Basketball Recap: Palm Beach Gardens Takes a Tough Playoff Loss

It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Palm Beach Gardens can now relate to. They took a 39-34 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Palm Beach Lakes Rams. Unfortunately, that's the third time they've come up short against the Rams this season, with their most recent loss being a 51-44 defeat last Saturday.

Palm Beach Gardens lost on Thursday despite a true team effort on offense. The best among them was Latasha Whyte, who almost dropped a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Jaliyah Magwood, who posted eight points in addition to five boards and three steals.

Even though they lost, Palm Beach Gardens smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive boards in 21 consecutive matchups.

Leading Palm Beach Lakes to victory were Ajyah Haywood and Laniya Hall. Haywood went 7-for-16 on her way to 17 points and six rebounds, while Hall put up seven points along with 12 boards and five blocks. Hall is becoming a predictor of Palm Beach Lakes' success: when she posts at least eight rebounds the team is 13-6 (and 1-2 when she doesn't). Another player making a difference was Brooklyn Jones, who earned six points.

Palm Beach Gardens' loss dropped their record down to 13-11. As for Palm Beach Lakes, the victory (which was their fifth in a row) raised their record to 14-8.

Palm Beach Gardens does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Palm Beach Lakes, they wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next game, a 76-37 defeat against Dr. Phillips on the 18th.