Preview: Robinson Knights vs. Booker Tornadoes
The Robinson Knights will be staying on the road on Thursday to face off against the Booker Tornadoes at 7:00 p.m. on February 15th. Robinson knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past eight games -- so hopefully Booker likes a good challenge.
It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Robinson can now relate to. They suffered a tough 77-56 defeat at the hands of the Gladiators on Saturday. While losing is never fun, Robinson can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 288th, while Gibbs is ranked 40th).
Robinson's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Jordan Mickens, who scored 25 points along with eight assists and six rebounds, and Dylan Russell who scored 17 points along with two steals. Mickens hasn't dropped below 19 points for four straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Donevon Kelly, who scored eight points.
Meanwhile, Booker came tearing into Saturday's match with 11 straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 18.8 points) and they left with even more momentum. They came out on top against Bayshore by a score of 58-50.
Jovan Palavra was his usual excellent self, scoring 17 points. He continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last four games he's played. Another player making a difference was Darius Behn, who scored ten points.
Robinson's loss dropped their record down to 15-13. As for Booker, they pushed their record up to 18-9 with that win, which was their fifth straight at home.
Things could have been worse for Robinson, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 72-54 loss to Booker when the teams last played back in February of 2018. Thankfully for Robinson, Jordan Clark (who dropped a double-double on 18 points and ten rebounds) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
