Even though the Gulf Buccaneers scored an imposing 69 points on Friday, the Wesley Chapel Wildcats still came out on top. Wesley Chapel enjoyed a cozy 83-69 win over Gulf. Given Wesley Chapel's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 143rd, while Gulf is ranked 547th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Wesley Chapel's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Trey Murray, who scored 20 points along with seven rebounds and seven steals. The matchup was Murray's 11th in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Sian Morris, who scored 27 points along with six rebounds.
Despite the loss, Gulf still got an impressive performance from Jeremiah Long, who dropped a double-double on 27 points and 15 rebounds. Long scored a full 39.1% of Gulf's points, the ninth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Jaydn Wood was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on 11 points and ten rebounds.
Even though they lost, Gulf were smashing the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Wesley Chapel only pulled down 19 offensive rebounds.
Wesley Chapel's victory bumped their record up to 8-3. As for Gulf, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-7.
Wesley Chapel will have some time to savor their win since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on Bloomingdale at 11:30 a.m. on January 5, 2024. As for Gulf, their homestand continues as they prepare to take on Steinbrenner at 2:30 p.m. on December 23rd. Steinbrenner has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 175 points over their last three contests.
