Basketball Game Preview: Lemon Bay Manta Rays vs. North Port Bobcats

The Lemon Bay Manta Rays will face off against the North Port Bobcats at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday.

Last Tuesday, Lemon Bay ended up a good deal behind Port Charlotte and lost 62-43. While losing is never fun, the Manta Rays can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 222nd, while the Pirates are ranked 67th).

Despite their defeat, Lemon Bay saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Maya Collins, who went 5 of 12 en route to 14 points along with eight boards and three steals, was perhaps the best of all. Collins is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last 37 games she's played dating back to last season. The team also got some help courtesy of Shania Leubin, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and ten rebounds.

Even though they lost, Lemon Bay smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 16 consecutive games dating back to last season.

Meanwhile, North Port came tearing into Tuesday's matchup with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 23.3 points) and they left with even more momentum. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 50-47 victory over the Panthers. 50 seems to be a good number for the Bobcats as the squad scooped up a win with the same number of points in their previous game.

Lemon Bay now has a losing record at 5-6. As for North Port, their victory bumped their record up to 8-5.

Lemon Bay didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against North Port when the teams last played back in November of 2024, but they still walked away with a 62-58 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Lemon Bay since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.