Basketball Game Preview: Atlantic Sharks vs. Vanguard Knights

Having just played yesterday, the Atlantic Sharks will head out on the road to face off against the Vanguard Knights at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Atlantic is probably headed into the contest with a chip on their shoulder considering Mainland just ended the team's three-game winning streak on Thursday. They fell to the Buccaneers 61-56.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Vanguard). They took their game on Thursday with ease, bagging an 81-45 win over West Port. Given the Knights' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 177th, while the Wolf Pack are ranked 679th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Atlantic's defeat dropped their record down to 18-6. As for Vanguard, the victory got them back to even at 12-12.

Atlantic couldn't quite finish off Vanguard when the teams last played back in January of 2024 and fell 66-63. Thankfully for Atlantic, D'Mareon Manning (who went 6 for 10 from beyond the arc en route to 26 points and three steals) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.