The Parrish Community Bulls and the Land O' Lakes Gators will face off at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday without much rest having both just played. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
On Friday, Parrish Community took a blow against Countryside, falling 56-19. While losing is never fun, the Bulls can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 378th, while the Cougars are ranked 143rd).
Despite the loss, Parrish Community saw an underclassman step up: freshman Romana Lind dropped a double-double on ten points and ten rebounds. Parrish Community is 3-1 when Lind posts eight or more boards, but 1-6 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Riley Lee, who posted four points and five rebounds.
Even though they lost, Parrish Community smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 32 consecutive matches dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, after a string of three wins, Land O' Lakes' good fortune finally ran out on Friday. They took a 52-41 hit to the loss column at the hands of Berkeley Prep.
Parrish Community will have to keep a close watch on Jessi Saffold and Alex Nichols, a pair of players who had a big impact on Land O' Lakes' prior game. Saffold dropped a double-double on 16 points and 12 steals, while Nichols went 5 of 12 on her way to 18 points and five rebounds. That was a full 39% of Land O' Lakes' points, marking the fourth time in a row she's put up more than a third of the team's points.
Parrish Community has been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-7 record this season. As for Land O' Lakes, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-4.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Parrish Community has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 39.5 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Land O' Lakes struggles in that department as they've been averaging 36.3 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Parrish Community strolled past Land O' Lakes in their previous meeting back in December of 2023 by a score of 61-44. Does Parrish Community have another victory up their sleeve, or will Land O' Lakes turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
