Preview: Florence Gophers vs. Coolidge Bears
Florence has enjoyed a two-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will face off against the Coolidge Bears at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Hopefully Florence focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 19 on Thursday.
Florence struggled with threes on Thursday (Gilbert Christian had six more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Florence fell to Gilbert Christian 60-54. While losing is never fun, Florence can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 138th, while Gilbert Christian is ranked 39th).
Despite the defeat, Florence had strong showings from Logan Stenson, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Adrian Taufaasau, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 11 rebounds. Stenson has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last five times he's played. Another player making a difference was Darren Swain, who scored seven points along with six rebounds.
Meanwhile, Coolidge scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Saturday. They claimed a resounding 112-42 victory over Globe at home. Coolidge has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight matchups by 25 points or more this season.
Coolidge can attribute much of their success to Ja'kwan Jordan, who scored 20 points along with eight rebounds and five steals, and Tory Gholston, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 12 assists. Jordan hasn't dropped below eight rebounds for 11 straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Isaiah Slaughter, who scored 17 points along with five rebounds and two steals.
Florence's loss dropped their record down to 14-8. As for Coolidge, they pushed their record up to 15-5 with that victory, which was their tenth straight at home.
This contest is shaping up to be a blowout: Florence hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having only averaged 56 points per game. It's a different story for Coolidge, though, as they've been averaging only 65.4 points per game. The only thing between Florence and another offensive beatdown is Coolidge. Will they be able to keep them contained?
Florence skirted past Coolidge 51-48 when the teams last played two weeks ago. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Jordan, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 19 rebounds. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Florence still be able to contain him? There's only one way to find out.
