Preview: Hardee Wildcats vs. Lemon Bay Manta Rays
After three games on the road, Hardee is heading back home. They will take on the Lemon Bay Manta Rays at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday.
Last Monday, Hardee came up short against Lake Placid and fell 50-43. Hardee has not had much luck with Lake Placid recently, as the team's come up short the last four times they've met.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the most dominant came from Angel Patino, who scored 14 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points he has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Phoenix Romeo, who scored 13 points.
Lemon Bay has not had quite the year their fans were hoping for to this point, but back-to-back wins may be a sign of good things to come. They snuck past LaBelle with a 45-40 victory on Wednesday.
Hardee has traveled a rocky road recently, as they've lost seven of their last nine matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-10 record this season. As for Lemon Bay, their win ended a six-game drought on the road and puts them at 7-12.
Hardee suffered a grim 49-29 defeat to Lemon Bay in their previous matchup back in December of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Lemon Bay's Lucas Newcomb, who scored 25 points along with six rebounds and two steals. Now that Hardee knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
