The Cypress Lake Panthers pushed their score all the way to 62 on Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a hard 79-62 fall against Palmetto. While losing is never fun, Cypress Lake can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 309th, while Palmetto is ranked 131st).
Despite the loss, Cypress Lake still got an impressive performance from Giordan Easely, who scored 24 points along with seven rebounds and five assists. Easely is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last three games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Joey Dube - garrett, who scored six points along with six rebounds and two steals.
Palmetto got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Santiago Henriquez out in front who scored 23 points along with three steals. Another player making a difference was Joshua Lipson, who scored 18 points along with eight rebounds and seven assists.
Cypress Lake has not been sharp recently, as they've lost five of their last six matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 8-7 record this season. As for Palmetto, the win makes it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 8-7.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Cypress Lake will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on Lehigh at 7:30 p.m. on January 18th. Lehigh knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past three matchups -- so hopefully Cypress Lake likes a good challenge. As for Palmetto, Palmetto and TERRA Environmental will face off at 7:30 p.m. on January 9th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. TERRA Environmental is looking to tack on another W to their three-game streak on the road.
