Preview: Lake Region Thunder vs. Ridge Community Bolts
Lake Region is 1-7 against Ridge Community since November of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Saturday. The Lake Region Thunder will look to defend their home court against the Ridge Community Bolts at 6:00 p.m. One thing working in Lake Region's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last six contests.
Lake Region posted their biggest win since December 13, 2023 on Thursday. They really took it to Tenoroc for the full four quarters, racking up a 78-43 win at home. With Lake Region ahead 44-17 at the half, the game was all but over already.
Lake Region's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Zackery White led the charge by scoring 17 points along with six rebounds and two steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points White has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Eugene Daniels, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Ridge Community posted their closest victory yet this season on Friday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Haines City and snuck past 53-51. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Ridge Community.
Eddy Hyppolite jr. continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, scoring 13 points along with five rebounds and five steals. He hasn't dropped below two steals for three straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Tarique Kennedy, who scored ten points along with three blocks.
The win got Lake Region back to even at 8-8. As for Ridge Community, their victory bumped their record up to 6-7.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as both teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Lake Region hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having only averaged 63.9 points per game. It's a different story for Ridge Community, though, as they've been averaging only 53.9 points per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Lake Region strolled past Ridge Community in their previous matchup back in January of 2023 by a score of 77-63. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Ridge Community's Adrian Rogers, who scored 20 points along with six rebounds. Now that he won't be playing on Saturday, will it be that much easier for Lake Region to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
