Basketball Recap: Navarre Raiders vs. Pace Patriots
The Navarre Raiders were handed a two-point loss in their last game, but they sure didn't let that happen against the Pace Patriots on Friday. Navarre blew past the Patriots 61-41. That's another feather in the cap for Navarre, who also won these teams' last head-to-head.
Navarre had a senior duo take command as Darius Cunningham scored 22 points along with six steals and Jonah Forrest scored 18 points along with two steals. That makes it five consecutive games in which Cunningham has scored at least a third of Navarre's points. Jayden Hobbs was another key contributor, scoring eight points along with five assists and five rebounds.
Several Patriots players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Hayden Bowman, who scored 16 points along with six rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Tucker Ricks, who scored eight points.
Navarre has been performing well recently as they've won six of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 11-9 record this season. As for Pace, their loss was their ninth straight on the road dating back to last season, which dropped their record down to 3-15.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Navarre will take on the Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Niceville is strutting with some offensive muscle, as they've averaged 52.1 points per game this season. As for Pace, they won't have much time to rest: their next game is against the Aggies at 12:30 p.m. on January 20th. Averaging 65.61 points so far this season, Tate's high-powered offense has been in full-swing lately, so the Patriots better be ready for a challenge.
