Basketball Preview: Lakewood Ranch Mustangs vs. Newsome Wolves
The Lakewood Ranch Mustangs are on the road again on Thursday and plays the Newsome Wolves on February 8th. One thing working in Lakewood Ranch's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last four contests.
Lakewood Ranch pushed their score all the way to 58 on Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They lost to Riverview Sarasota on the road by a decisive 76-58 margin. While losing is never fun, Lakewood Ranch can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 373rd, while the Rams are ranked 141st).
Lakewood Ranch's defeat came about despite a quality game from David Young, who dropped a double-double on 22 points and 14 rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Young has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of James Butler, who scored 16 points along with four steals.
Meanwhile, Newsome's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their fourth straight defeat. They fell 62-54 to King.
Lakewood Ranch has traveled a rocky road recently having lost ten of their last 12 games, which put a noticeable dent in their 7-15 record this season. As for Newsome, their defeat was their third straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 12-12.
Lakewood Ranch took a serious blow against the Wolves when the teams last played back in February of 2023, falling 67-30. Can Lakewood Ranch avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
