Basketball Recap: Lakeland's Luck Takes a Turn for the Worse on Monday

Dreadnaughts

Previous 5 Games

01/20/25 @ Hawthorne	63-71
01/18/25 vs Lake Weir	74-59
01/16/25 @ Lake Region	76-42
01/14/25 vs Sebring	64-59
01/13/25 vs Mulberry	87-25

It was a good run, but Lakeland unfortunately witnessed the end of their four-game winning streak on Monday. They took a 71-63 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Hawthorne Hornets. While losing is never fun, the Dreadnaughts can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 228th, while the Hornets are ranked 90th).

Hawthorne's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Leland Johnson, who went 7 of 13 en route to 20 points. Johnson continues to improve, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Demetrius Brown, who posted 20 points and five boards.

Lakeland's loss dropped their record down to 9-6. As for Hawthorne, their victory was their 12th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 9-2.

Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Lakeland won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Discovery at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday. One thing working in Discovery's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last ten matches. Hawthorne has already played their next contest (against North Marion), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing.