The Timber Creek Wolves will challenge the Gateway Panthers at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Timber Creek comes in on five and Gateway on three.
If Timber Creek beats Gateway with 41 points on Thursday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two games with that exact score. Timber Creek took down Wekiva 41-26 on Friday. Given the Wolves' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 33rd, while the Mustangs are ranked 201st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Timber Creek got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Kareena Ortiz out in front who went 6 for 15 on her way to 14 points and five boards. The team also got some help courtesy of Serene Exalant, who posted 14 points in addition to eight rebounds and four steals.
Meanwhile, Gateway hadn't done well against St. Cloud recently (they were 0-9 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. Gateway snuck past St. Cloud with a 55-49 win. The 55-point effort marked the Panthers' lowest-scoring contest of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.
Gateway's win came from a few key players Timber Creek will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Alyssa Marino, who went 7 of 12 en route to 22 points along with six assists and five boards. Her evening made it seven games in a row in which she has scored at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Evana Rivera, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Gateway smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in nine consecutive matchups.
Gateway has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 14 of their last 16 games, which provided a nice bump to their 18-4 record this season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 40.4 points. As for Timber Creek, they pushed their record up to 20-4 with the victory, which was their 11th straight at home dating back to last season.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as Timber Creek and Gateway are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Timber Creek hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 55.8 points per game. However, it's not like Gateway struggles in that department as they've been averaging 67.7 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Timber Creek came up short against Gateway in their previous matchup back in January of 2024, falling 41-37. Can Timber Creek avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
