Basketball Recap: Maya Collins' Big Game Can't Quite Lead Lemon Bay over Desoto County

It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Lemon Bay can now relate to. They took a 66-59 hit to the loss column at the hands of the DeSoto County Bulldogs on Saturday. The Manta Rays were given a dose of their own medicine in this game as the Bulldogs apparently hadn't forgotten their loss the last time these teams played back in January of 2023.

Maya Collins

Rebounds (Career)

02/08/25 vs DeSoto County	13
11/28/23 @ First Baptist Academy	11
02/06/25 vs LaBelle	10
01/09/25 @ North Port	9
01/22/25 @ Sarasota	8

Several Manta Rays players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Maya Collins, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 13 rebounds. The dominant performance gave Collins a new career-high in boards. The team also got some help courtesy of Mackenzie Long, who almost dropped a double-double on 16 points and nine rebounds.

Even though they lost, Lemon Bay smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 34 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 27 consecutive matchups dating back to last season.

DeSoto County was led to victory by Cherish Wiggins and Yahri Tyler. Wiggins dropped a double-double on 27 points and 15 boards, while Tyler dropped a double-double on 22 points and 12 rebounds. The contest was Wiggins' third in a row with at least 18 points. Rihanna Downing was another key player, putting up two points and 11 boards.

Lemon Bay's defeat dropped their record down to 12-10. As for DeSoto County, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 19-6 record this season.

The two teams are set to take part in some playoff action in their next matches. Lemon Bay will square off against Robinson at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Robinson will roll in looking for their fourth straight victory, something Lemon Bay surely won't give up without a fight. As for DeSoto County, they will face off against Gulf at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. One thing working in DeSoto County's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last four matchups.