Basketball Game Preview: First Coast Buccaneers vs. Nease Panthers

The First Coast Buccaneers will take on the Nease Panthers in a holiday battle at at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Given that both suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this contest.

Last Thursday, First Coast came up short against Westside and fell 44-35. The Buccaneers have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Despite the defeat, First Coast saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Sha'Niah Bennett dropped a double-double on 19 points and 20 boards. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Bennett has scored all season.

Even though they lost, First Coast smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 29 offensive boards. That's the most offensive rebounds they've posted since back in December of 2023.

Meanwhile, Nease was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their third straight loss. They took a 37-25 hit to the loss column at the hands of Creekside. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 266th, while the Knights are ranked 65th).

First Coast's defeat dropped their record down to 2-5. As for Nease, their loss ended a seven-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 3-5.

First Coast was taken down by Nease 68-22 in their previous meeting back in January of 2022. Thankfully for First Coast, Camryn Robinson (who went 7 of 8 on her way to 21 points and six steals) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.