Basketball Recap: Haines City's Run of Three Straight Victories Now Over

Haines City was the 62-52 winner over Ridge Community when they last played one another back in December of 2024, but their luck changed this time around. The Haines City Hornets took a 54-44 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Ridge Community Bolts on Thursday. The game marked the Hornets' lowest-scoring match so far this season.

Despite the loss, Haines City still got an impressive performance from Eddy Hyppolite Jr., who posted 18 points and five steals. The contest was Hyppolite Jr.'s third in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Derek Robles, who earned six points.

Ridge Community got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Tarique Kennedy out in front who dropped a double-double on 19 points and ten boards. Kennedy is becoming a predictor of Ridge Community's success: when he posts at least ten rebounds the team is 9-3 (and 0-3 when he doesn't). The team also got some help courtesy of Zack White, who had 12 points.

Haines City moved to 8-6 with that defeat, which also ended their three-game winning streak. As for Ridge Community, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 9-6 record this season.

Haines City didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next game, a 72-59 loss against Davenport on the 10th. As for Ridge Community, they will head out to face off against Kathleen at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Ridge Community is facing Kathleen at the right time seeing as Kathleen is stuck on an eight-game losing streak.