Basketball Recap: Haines City Takes a Loss

It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Haines City can now relate to. They were beaten by the Osceola Kowboys 91-58 on Tuesday. While losing is never fun, the Hornets can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 302nd, while the Kowboys are ranked 27th).

Haines City's loss came despite strong showings from Eddy Hyppolite Jr. and Kobe Key. Hyppolite Jr. went 10 for 15 on his way to 22 points, while Key went 8 of 17 en route to 17 points. That was a full 37.9% of Haines City's points, marking the third time in a row he's posted more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Kemel Daniel, who earned four points.

Osceola's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Luke Mccrimon, who went 11 for 15 on his way to 26 points in addition to six assists and five rebounds. With that strong performance, Mccrimon is now averaging an impressive 2.1 steals per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Jordan Isaac, who went 9 of 16 en route to 26 points.

Haines City has traveled a rocky road recently having lost three of their last four matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 12-13 record this season. As for Osceola, they pushed their record up to 22-3 with the win, which was their 16th straight at home dating back to last season.

Haines City does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Osceola, they will face off against Poinciana at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Osceola's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last nine contests.