The Hardee Wildcats will square off against the Santa Fe Catholic Hawks at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
It was a proper cat-fight when Hardee took on Mulberry on Tuesday. Hardee came up short against Mulberry, falling 50-29. The defeat continues a trend for the Wildcats in their matchups with the Panthers: they've now lost six in a row.
| 01/21/25 vs Mulberry | 2 |
| 01/14/25 @ Avon Park | 8 |
| 01/09/25 @ Lake Placid | 4 |
| 01/07/25 @ DeSoto County | 2 |
| 12/17/24 @ Northeast | 9 |
Hardee's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Rihanna Frederick, who posted 11 points, and Alexandra Jackson, who scored six points and seven boards. Jackson has been hot for a while, having also posted two or more steals the last 13 times she's played.
Meanwhile, Santa Fe Catholic made easy work of St. John Lutheran on Wednesday and carried off a 43-21 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Hawks.
Hardee better focus on containing Sasha Lawson and Angelina Rodriguez as the pair were huge in Santa Fe Catholic's win. Lawson dropped a double-double on 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Rodriguez dropped a double-double on ten points and 14 boards. The dominant performance gave Rodriguez a new career-high in rebounds. Sofia Hernandez was another key player, almost dropping a double-double on nine points and nine steals.
Santa Fe Catholic smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 31 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive boards they've managed all season.
The victory got Santa Fe Catholic back to even at 10-10. As for Hardee, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-7.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Hardee has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 32.7 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Santa Fe Catholic struggles in that department as they've been averaging 24.4 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Hardee didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Santa Fe Catholic when the teams last played back in January of 2023, but they still walked away with a 39-33 win. Will Hardee repeat their success, or does Santa Fe Catholic have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
