The Four Corners Coyotes are taking a road trip to face off against the Winthrop College Prep Academy Spartans at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
Four Corners is probably headed into the contest with a chip on their shoulder considering Mulberry just ended the team's five-game winning streak on Thursday. They fell 56-44 to the Panthers. While losing is never fun, the Coyotes can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 373rd, while the Panthers are ranked 110th).
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Danielys Pena Ponce, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 11 rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Briana Carrion, who dropped a double-double on ten points and 14 boards.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Winthrop College Prep Academy). They really took it to Patel for the full four quarters, racking up a 78-51 win. The Spartans pushed the score to 61-32 by the end of the third, a deficit the Trailblazers cut but never quite recovered from.
Four Corners better keep an eye on JoLesa Birkhead. She was instrumental in Winthrop College Prep Academy's win, dropping a double-double on 41 points and ten steals. The dominant performance also gave Birkhead a new career-high in assists (seven). Sanaii Holloway was another key player, putting up 11 points and seven rebounds.
Winthrop College Prep Academy was working as a unit and finished the game with 12 assists. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 3.7 assists per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 games they've averaged 6.1.
Winthrop College Prep Academy has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a massive bump to their 7-16 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 53.4 points per game. As for Four Corners, they now have a losing record at 7-8.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Four Corners has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 32.4 boards per game. However, it's not like Winthrop College Prep Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 24.2 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Everything came up roses for Four Corners against Winthrop College Prep Academy when the teams last played back in November of 2021, as the squad secured a 48-16 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Four Corners since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
