Basketball Preview: Umatilla Bulldogs vs. Lake Weir Hurricanes
Umatilla is 8-2 against the Hurricanes since January of 2021, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Tuesday. The Umatilla Bulldogs will take on the Lake Weir Hurricanes at 6:00 p.m. Hopefully Umatilla is not getting complacent, as they presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than the Hurricanes in Florida (the Bulldogs are ranked 214th, while the Hurricanes are ranked 482nd).
Umatilla pushed their score all the way to 57 on Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell to South Lake 62-57.
Despite the defeat, Umatilla saw an underclassman step up: Herly Brutus almost dropped a double-double on 14 points and nine assists. Brutus has been hot recently, having posted three or more steals the last four times he's played. Jay Miller was another key contributor, scoring 15 points.
Meanwhile, it was close, but on Friday Lake Weir sidestepped the Patriots for a 54-51 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Lake Weir.
Lake Weir can attribute much of their success to Tra'shawn Warren, who scored 17 points. Another player making a difference was Amari Kiner, who scored seven points along with three steals.
Umatilla's loss ended a five-game streak of away wins and brought them to 18-5. As for Lake Weir, their victory bumped their record up to 9-12.
Umatilla was able to grind out a solid victory over the Hurricanes in their previous matchup two weeks ago, winning 66-57. Will Umatilla repeat their success, or do the Hurricanes have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
