Preview: Port St. Lucie Jaguars vs. Merritt Island Mustangs
The Port St. Lucie Jaguars will head out on the road to face off against the Merritt Island Mustangs at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Port St. Lucie is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last four games.
Last Thursday, Port St. Lucie humbled Lincoln Park Academy with a 88-43 victory. The matchup was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 46-23.
Ryan Rodriguez continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a double-double on 32 points and 11 rebounds. That makes it six consecutive games in which he has scored at least 25% of Port St. Lucie's points. Another player making a difference was Makhari Chambliss, who scored 22 points.
Meanwhile, it was close, but on Friday Merritt Island sidestepped West Shore for a 46-44 win. The win was just what Merritt Island needed coming off of a 94-50 loss in their prior match.
Among those leading the charge was Jayce Brandes, who scored 19 points along with five rebounds and three steals. That's the first time this season that he scored 15 or more points. The team also got some help courtesy of Braeden Rouleau, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Port St. Lucie pushed their record up to 8-1 with that victory, which was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 75.3 points per game. As for Merritt Island, their win bumped their record up to 2-8.
Port St. Lucie beat Merritt Island 68-55 in their previous matchup back in January. The rematch might be a little tougher for Port St. Lucie since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.