King is 1-6 against Jesuit since December of 2016 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The King Lions will head out on the road to square off against the Jesuit Tigers at 7:00 p.m. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
With a playoff game on the line, King rose to the challenge on Tuesday. They walked away with a 56-47 win over the Tigers. Given King's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 339th, while Middleton is ranked 688th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead King to victory, but perhaps none more so than George "TJ" Daniels, who scored 21 points. Daniels is trending in the right direction, as he's improved his point production for three games straight. The team also got some help courtesy of Julien Barnett, who scored eight points along with ten rebounds and three blocks.
Meanwhile, Jesuit stacked an 11th blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Tuesday. They really took it to Brandon for the full four quarters, racking up a 89-27 victory on the road. Jesuit's offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.
Jesuit's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Dylan Flach, who scored 16 points along with five rebounds and two steals. It was the first time this season that Flach scored 15 or more points. Another player making a difference was Damien Ross, who scored 14 points along with three steals.
King has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 14-12 record this season. As for Jesuit, their win bumped their record up to 19-7.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: King have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 25.6 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Jesuit struggles in that department as they've been averaging 26.3 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
King suffered a grim 75-50 defeat to Jesuit in their previous matchup back in January. Can King avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
