Basketball Game Preview: East Lake Eagles vs. Sickles Gryphons

The East Lake Eagles will square off against the Sickles Gryphons at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

East Lake is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They took their matchup with ease, bagging a 74-34 win over Steinbrenner. Given the Eagles' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 119th, while the Warriors are ranked 566th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

East Lake relied on the efforts of Jordan Bryant, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Jeremiah Cooper, who went 6 for 11 from beyond the arc en route to 18 points along with seven boards and six assists. Bryant is also on a roll when it comes to blocks, as he's now posted four or more in the last ten games he's played. Andre Willis was another key player, going 7 of 15 on his way to 17 points.

Meanwhile, Sickles had already won eight in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 19.5 points) and they went ahead and made it nine on Wednesday. They claimed a resounding 63-29 victory over the Packers.

Sickles is also on a roll lately: they've won 11 of their last 13 games, which provided a nice bump to their 18-8 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 71.9 points per game. As for East Lake, their win bumped their record up to 19-7.

Everything went East Lake's way against Sickles when the teams last played back in December of 2024, as East Lake made off with an 81-61 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for East Lake since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.