Basketball Game Preview: Fernandina Beach Pirates vs. Hilliard Red Flashes

Fernandina Beach is 2-8 against Hilliard since January of 2020 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Fernandina Beach Pirates will look to defend their home court against the Hilliard Red Flashes at 6:00 p.m. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.

Last Friday, Fernandina Beach was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 40-36 to Fletcher. While losing is never fun, the Pirates can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 419th, while the Senators are ranked 159th).

Despite their loss, Fernandina Beach saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Savina Wells, who almost dropped a double-double on 13 points and nine boards, was perhaps the best of all. Wells is crushing it when it comes to rebounds: she's pulled down at least eight every time she's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Julianna Miller, who went 5 for 8 en route to 11 points in addition to five boards and three steals.

Even though they lost, Fernandina Beach smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in six consecutive matches.

Hilliard has been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. They fell 67-55 to Charlton County on Saturday. While the Red Flashes didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Indians 17-10 in the first quarter.

Fernandina Beach's defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 9-10. As for Hilliard, their loss ended a six-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 13-7.

Fernandina Beach was dealt a bruising 51-20 defeat at the hands of Hilliard in their previous meeting two weeks ago. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Hilliard's Molly Dean, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and nine steals. Now that Fernandina Beach knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.