Two dominant guards in Acelia Beals and Jayna Bowen are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Charlotte Fightin' Tarpons will welcome the Parrish Community Bulls at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Charlotte sitting on three straight wins and Parrish Community on four.
Charlotte's offense will try to repeat the strong performance it gave on Thursday, when they got past Gulf Coast's usually-dominant defense. Charlotte strolled past Gulf Coast with points to spare, taking the game 55-38. Given the Fightin' Tarpons' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 47th, while the Sharks are ranked 134th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Charlotte found their leader in sophomore Samantha Vega, who went 5 of 7 on her way to 15 points in addition to five assists and four steals. Another player making a difference was Beals, who went 5 for 9 en route to 14 points.
Meanwhile, with a playoff win on the line, Parrish Community rose to the challenge on Tuesday. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past the Tigers 59-57. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Bulls considering their two-point performance the match before.
Parrish Community found their leader in freshman Romana Lind, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and ten rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Lind has scored all season. Bowen was another key player, putting up seven points and four steals.
Charlotte's win was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 16-8. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 52.3 points per game. As for Parrish Community, their victory bumped their record up to 11-14.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Charlotte has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 28.4 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Parrish Community struggles in that department as they've been averaging 38.4 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.
