Basketball Game Preview: East Lake Eagles vs. Gibbs Gladiators

The East Lake Eagles will face off against the Gibbs Gladiators at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

East Lake is headed into the game after thoroughly thrashing Palm Harbor University: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that East Lake blew Palm Harbor University out of the water with an 80-43 final score. The Eagles have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won ten matchups by 20 points or more this season.

East Lake can attribute much of their success to Jeremiah Cooper, who went 8 of 12 from beyond the arc on his way to 30 points and four steals, and Jordan Bryant, who went 6 for 10 en route to 14 points in addition to five rebounds and five blocks. Bryant has been hot, having posted four or more blocks the last eight times he's played. Another player making a difference was Andre Willis, who posted ten points and five boards.

Meanwhile, Gibbs entered their tilt with Victory Christian Academy on Friday with 12 consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with 13. They came out on top against the Storm by a score of 64-57.

East Lake pushed their record up to 18-6 with the victory, which was their eighth straight on the road dating back to last season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 71.4 points per game. As for Gibbs, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 16 of their last 17 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 20-4 record this season.

East Lake couldn't quite finish off Gibbs when the teams last played back in January of 2023 and fell 64-61. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Gibbs' Jacob Daniels, who put up 17 points along with six assists and three steals. Now that East Lake knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.