The King Lions will head out on the road to face off against the Middleton Tigers at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday. King will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Florida Rankings (they are ranked 332nd, while Middleton is ranked 150th).
Last Friday, King beat Freedom 49-37. The win was just what King needed coming off of a 66-21 loss in their prior game.
King's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Heaven Pyfrom, who scored 18 points along with 4 steals. That makes it two consecutive games in which Pyfrom has scored at least 25% of King's points. Another player making a difference was Oluwabusayo Michael-Asalu, who scored 3 points along with 9 steals and 7 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Middleton had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 23.5 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They enjoyed a cozy 37-23 victory over Chamberlain.
Middleton relied on the efforts of Ayanna Blake, who scored 11 points along with 7 rebounds and 4 steals, and Anaja Griffin, who scored 18 points. The game was Griffin's third in a row with at least ten points. Laurie Julot was another key contributor, scoring 4 points along with 7 rebounds.
The losses dropped King to 1-2 and Freedom to 0-3.
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 13.7 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Middleton struggles in that department as they've been even better at 36 per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.
King beat Middleton 27-17 in their previous meeting back in January. The rematch might be a little tougher for King since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
