Preview: Discovery Spartans vs. Haines City Hornets
The Discovery Spartans will be playing in front of their home fans against the Haines City Hornets at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. Discovery has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 1,081 points over their last 14 contests.
Discovery fought the good fight in their overtime matchup against Lake Wales on Thursday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They took a 82-74 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Highlanders. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as Discovery came into the matchup with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 124th, while Lake Wales is ranked 535th).
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the most dominant came from Darius Livingston, who scored 21 points along with three steals and three blocks. He hasn't dropped below 15points for six straight games. Willie Wilson was another key contributor, scoring 19 points along with eight rebounds and three steals.
Haines City suffered their closest defeat yet this season on Friday. They fell just short of Ridge Community by a score of 53-51. Haines City has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Like Haines City, they lost despite seeing results from several players. Jorge Ramirez led the charge by scoring 14 points along with two steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Gary Colon Nevarez, who scored 13 points along with two steals.
Discovery's loss ended a four-game streak of away wins and brought them to 11-3. As for Haines City, they have not been sharp recently, as they've lost five of their last six games, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-12 record this season.
Saturday's game is shaping up to be a scrappy game: Discovery have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 25.1 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Haines City struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 32.1 rebounds per game. Given Discovery's sizeable advantage in that area, Haines City will need to find a way to close that gap.
Discovery strolled past Haines City when the teams last played back in January of 2023 by a score of 53-34. Will Discovery repeat their success, or does Haines City have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
