Preview: Coral Glades Jaguars vs. Palmetto Panthers
Two dominant guards in Tahir Bond and Santiago Henriquez are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Coral Glades Jaguars will take on the Palmetto Panthers at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. Coral Glades has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.
Coral Glades scored the most points they've had all season to find success last Thursday. They blew past Flanagan, posting a 78-28 victory on the road. That looming 78-28 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for Coral Glades yet this season.
It was another big night for Bond, who scored 23 points along with six rebounds and three steals. He has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last five times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Gavin Reed, who scored 11 points along with five assists and three steals.
Meanwhile, even though Dr. Krop scored an imposing 72 points on Thursday, Palmetto still came out on top. Palmetto took down Dr. Krop 88-72. Given Palmetto's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 113th, while Dr. Krop is ranked 271st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Palmetto got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Henriquez out in front who dropped a double-double on 27 points and ten steals. Henriquez hasn't dropped below 15points for five straight games. Joshua Lipson was another key contributor, scoring 23 points along with six rebounds and six steals.
Coral Glades' win ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 11-12. As for Palmetto, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 15-9 record this season.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the two teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Coral Glades hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 58.1 points per game. However, it's not like Palmetto struggles in that department as they've been averaging 74 points per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Coral Glades suffered a grim 69-48 defeat to Palmetto when the teams last played back in February of 2023. Can Coral Glades avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
