The Booker Tornadoes pushed their score all the way to 60 on Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They were the victim of a tough 83-60 defeat at the hands of Braden River. While losing is never fun, Booker can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 489th, while Braden River is ranked 119th).
Booker's loss came despite strong showings from Jovan Palavra and Darius Behn. Palavra scored 21 points, while Behn scored 18 points. Those 18 points set a new season-high mark for him. The team also got some help courtesy of Kaiden Wright, who scored eight points.
Braden River was led to victory by Isaac Heaven and Marcus Schade. Heaven scored 24 points, while Schade scored 30 points along with six rebounds and five steals. The game was Schade's ninth in a row with at least ten points. Jacobi Murray was another key contributor, scoring eight points along with seven rebounds.
This is the second loss in a row for Booker and nudges their season record down to 3-6. As for Braden River, the win was the fourth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 6-3.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Booker will be home for the holidays to greet Bayshore at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. Hopefully Bayshore focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 29 on Wednesday. As for Braden River, their homestand continues as they prepare to take on Sarasota at 7:30 p.m. on December 19th. Sarasota is coming into the match hot, having won their last seven games.
