Preview: Keystone Heights Indians vs. Nease Panthers
The Keystone Heights Indians will head out on the road to square off against the Nease Panthers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Keystone Heights has now lost 11 straight, and the team is hunting for their first win since November 30.
Keystone Heights suffered their biggest loss since December 5, 2023 on Friday. They were outmatched by Hawthorne at home and fell 61-23. While losing is never fun, Keystone Heights can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 509th, while Hawthorne is ranked 176th).
Nease posted their biggest victory since December 15, 2023 on Wednesday. They were the clear victor by a 45-24 margin over Hilliard. The score was close at the half, but Nease pulled away in the second half with 24 points.
Nease's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Casey Eliason, who scored eight points along with six rebounds and three blocks, and McKenna Owens, who scored ten points along with six rebounds and five assists. Another player making a difference was Audrey Rollins, who scored eight points along with five rebounds and three steals.
Keystone Heights bumped their record down to 1-14 with that loss, which was their fourth straight at home. Those losses could be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 20.5 points per game. As for Nease, the victory got them back to even at 9-9.
Keystone Heights was dealt a bruising 59-19 defeat at the hands of Nease in their previous meeting two weeks ago. The contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point Keystone Heights was down 34-10.
