Basketball Game Preview: Lake Gibson Braves vs. Mulberry Panthers

Two dominant guards in Shania Benjamin and Lorianys Castanon Cruz are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Lake Gibson Braves will face off against the Mulberry Panthers at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Both are strolling into their games after big wins in their previous games.

Lake Gibson is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They breezed by Oasis Christian to the tune of 65-35 on Friday. The victory was a breath of fresh air for the Braves as it put an end to their nine-game losing streak.

Lake Gibson's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Benjamin led the charge by putting up 29 points. That makes it four consecutive games in which Benjamin has scored at least a third of Lake Gibson's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Grace Hough, who posted 19 points.

Meanwhile, Mulberry entered their tilt with Excel Christian Academy on Monday with nine consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with ten. They really took it to the Spartans for the full four quarters, racking up a 49-14 win. The Panthers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight matchups by 21 points or more this season.

Mulberry pushed their record up to 13-1 with the victory, which was their fifth straight at home. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 25.0 points per game. As for Lake Gibson, their win ended a six-game drought at home and bumped them up to 4-11.

Lake Gibson was taken down by Mulberry 71-31 when the teams last played back in December of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Castanon Cruz, who earned 41 points. Now that Lake Gibson knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.