Basketball Game Preview: Cypress Bay Lightning vs. South Plantation Paladins

The Cypress Bay Lightning will face off against the South Plantation Paladins at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Last Saturday, Cypress Bay lost to Hillgrove on the road by a 69-54 margin. While losing is never fun, the Lightning can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 74th in Florida, while the Hawks are ranked 17th in Georgia).

Meanwhile, South Plantation beat St. John Paul II 62-54 on Saturday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Paladins.

Cypress Bay better keep an eye on Marc Vincent. He was instrumental in South Plantation's win, putting up 13 points and eight rebounds. Vincent continues to improve, besting his previous point total in each of the last four games he's played. Another player making a difference was Chesnel Desinor, who posted eight points.

South Plantation smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive boards in four consecutive matchups.

South Plantation is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 11-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 58.0 points per game. As for Cypress Bay, their defeat dropped their record down to 9-4.

Cypress Bay was dealt a bruising 89-39 loss at the hands of South Plantation in their previous meeting back in November of 2023. Thankfully for Cypress Bay, Kaiden Francis (who went 8 of 12 on his way to 24 points in addition to five assists and three steals) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.