It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact the Estero Wildcats can now relate to. They took a 61-49 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Eagles on Saturday. While losing is never fun, Estero can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 394th, while Gateway is ranked 109th).
When it comes to explaining why Estero lost, one person who can't be blamed is Brady Knutson. Despite the final result, he almost dropped a double-double on 26 points and nine rebounds. Another player making a difference was Drew Arrington, who scored ten points along with six rebounds and two blocks.
Tavian Cook was his usual excellent self, dropping a double-double on 21 points and 14 rebounds for Gateway. Cook has been hot recently, having posted 18 or more points the last seven times he's played. Andrew Leopold was another key contributor, scoring nine points.
Estero's defeat dropped their record down to 14-13. As for Gateway, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 11 of their last 12 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 20-3 record this season.
Estero's road trip will continue as they head out to face Gateway at 7:00 p.m. on February 15th. Gateway will roll in looking for their fifth straight win, something Estero surely won't give up without a fight. Gateway is on the road again on Thursday and plays Estero at 7:00 p.m. on February 15th. Hopefully Estero focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 15 on Saturday.
