Preview: Navarre Raiders vs. Niceville Eagles
Navarre has enjoyed the comforts of home their last two games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will square off against the Niceville Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Navarre has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 781 points over their last 11 matches.
Navarre posted their biggest victory since December 18, 2023 on Friday. They put the hurt on Pace with a sharp 61-41 win.
Navarre had a senior duo take command as Darius Cunningham scored 22 points along with six steals and Jonah Forrest scored 18 points along with two steals. That makes it five consecutive games in which Cunningham has scored at least a third of Navarre's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jayden Hobbs, who scored eight points along with five assists and five rebounds.
Even though Niceville has not done well against Fort Walton Beach recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. Niceville pulled ahead with a 44-43 photo finish over Fort Walton Beach. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Niceville.
Niceville can attribute much of their success to Jackson Hamman, who scored nine points along with eight rebounds, and Jackson Kowal, who scored ten points along with two steals. Another player making a difference was Anwar Conley, who scored eight points along with 11 rebounds.
Navarre is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 11-9 record this season. As for Niceville, their win bumped their record up to 9-11.
This contest is shaping up to be a blowout: Navarre hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having only averaged 67.8 points per game. It's a different story for Niceville, though, as they've been averaging only 52.1 points per game. The only thing between Navarre and another offensive beatdown is Niceville. Will they be able to keep them contained?
Navarre didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Niceville in their previous matchup on January 2nd, but they still walked away with a 70-66 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Navarre since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
