Basketball Game Preview: Coral Reef Barracudas vs. Palmetto Panthers

Coral Reef hasn't had much luck against Palmetto recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Coral Reef Barracudas will square off against the Palmetto Panthers. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Coral Reef is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They took down Ferguson 74-58. Given the Barracudas' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 255th, while the Falcons are ranked 529th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Palmetto strolled past South Dade with points to spare on Wednesday, taking the game 81-67. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Panthers.

Coral Reef has also been performing well recently as they've won nine of their last 11 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 13-10 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 63.2 points per game. As for Palmetto, their victory bumped their record up to 15-10.

Coral Reef was dealt a bruising 100-63 loss at the hands of Palmetto when the teams last played back in November of 2024. Can Coral Reef avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.