Basketball Recap: Nateshawn Royal and Anthony Hampton Secure Win for Flagler Palm Coast

Flagler Palm Coast hadn't done well against Nease recently (they were 0-3 in their previous three matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. The Flagler Palm Coast Bulldogs enjoyed a cozy 66-52 win over the Nease Panthers. For the Bulldogs, this counts as revenge for the 50-27 victory the Panthers walked away with the last time they faced one another back in January of 2024.

Flagler Palm Coast was led to victory by Anthony Hampton and Nateshawn Royal. Hampton went 8 of 16 on his way to 27 points, while Royal made all 5 shots he took to post 14 points. Hampton's evening made it four games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jasiah Sanders, who dropped a double-double on ten points and ten rebounds.

Despite the defeat, Nease saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Luke Lindsay went 5 of 8 on his way to 18 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Lindsay has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Langston Hackworth, who posted five points in addition to five boards and three steals.

Flagler Palm Coast is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 10-7 record this season. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to three-point shooting accuracy: their three-point shooting accuracy was 31% in those games and 17% outside of them. As for Nease, they moved to 8-9 with that loss, which also ended their five-game winning streak.

Flagler Palm Coast didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next match, a 54-49 win against DeLand on the 14th. Nease has also already played their next contest, a 71-37 defeat against Impact Christian Academy on the 11th.