The Beachside Barracudas will take on the St. Johns Country Day Spartans at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Beachside is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 54.4 points per game this season.
Last Friday, Beachside was just a bucket shy of victory and fell 47-46 to Fernandina Beach.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Michael Rocco, who went 5 of 8 on his way to 13 points and seven rebounds. Another player making a difference was Maddox Hunstad, who went 6 for 14 en route to 15 points.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask St. Johns Country Day). They blew past Duval Charter, posting an 89-55 win. Winning may never get old, but the Spartans sure are getting used to it with their third in a row.
St. Johns Country Day's win came from a few key players Beachside will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Camden Cooper, who went 8 of 18 on his way to 25 points and five boards. The game was his fifth in a row with at least ten points. Elliot Graham was another key player, going 5 for 10 en route to 15 points and three steals.
St. Johns Country Day smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 18 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive rebounds in nine consecutive matches.
St. Johns Country Day is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a massive bump to their 10-10 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 67.2 points per game. As for Beachside, their loss ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 10-8.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Beachside has been crashing the rebounds this season, having averaged 24.6 boards per game. However, it's not like St. Johns Country Day struggles in that department as they've been averaging 37 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Beachside skirted past St. Johns Country Day 49-46 in their previous matchup back in December of 2024. Will Beachside repeat their success, or does St. Johns Country Day have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
