Basketball Recap: Gavin Eddings Leads a Balanced Attack to Beat Jefferson

Crystal River won the last time they faced Jefferson and things went their way on Saturday too. The Crystal River Pirates were the clear victor by a 72-49 margin over the Jefferson Dragons. The Pirates have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four contests by 22 points or more this season.

Gavin Eddings

Assists (Career)

12/28/24 vs Jefferson	7
12/07/23 vs Bishop McLaughlin Catholic	4
12/13/23 vs Tavares	4
12/15/23 @ Weeki Wachee	4
11/30/24 vs P.K. Yonge	4

Crystal River got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Gavin Eddings out in front who made all 7 shots he took to post 19 points in addition to seven assists and five boards. The dominant performance gave Eddings a new career-high in assists. The team also got some help courtesy of Ej Jenkins, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 13 boards.

Despite the loss, Jefferson still got an impressive performance from Camari Bell, who went 6 of 12 on his way to 18 points and six rebounds. Bell is trending in the right direction considering he's improved his point production for three straight games. Another player making a difference was Deion Andrew, who went 5 of 8 on his way to 11 points.

Crystal River is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 7-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 61.6 points per game. As for Jefferson, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-13.

Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Crystal River will have some time to savor their victory since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on Springstead at 7:30 p.m. on January 8th. Crystal River will be looking to extend their current three-game winning streak. Jefferson will also get a bit of a break before their next game: they'll face off against Alonso at 8:00 p.m. on January 7th.