The Gulf Breeze Dolphins's and the Pensacola Catholic Crusaders's matchup on Friday was close at halftime, but the Gulf Breeze Dolphins turned on the heat in the second half with 31 points. Gulf Breeze put the hurt on Pensacola Catholic with a sharp 49-27 victory. Given Gulf Breeze's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 84th, while Pensacola Catholic is ranked 445th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Gulf Breeze can attribute much of their success to Lila Jacobs, who scored 13 points along with nine steals and five assists. Jacobs hasn't dropped below two steals for four straight games. Piper Tieman was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on ten points and ten rebounds.
Despite the defeat, Pensacola Catholic saw an underclassman step up: Jenecia Swindell scored eight points.
Gulf Breeze's victory bumped their record up to 13-6. As for Pensacola Catholic, they are on a four-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 5-12.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Gulf Breeze and Central will face off at 7:30 p.m. on January 22nd without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Pensacola Catholic won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Cottage Hill Christian Academy at 2:00 p.m. on January 20th.
