Basketball Recap: Jaiden Smoak's Big Game Can't Quite Lead South Miami over TERRA Environmental

South Miami lost against TERRA Environmental back in January and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Thursday. The South Miami Cobras might have been a little too into the holiday spirit, gifting TERRA Environmental an easy 81-61 victory. While losing is never fun, the Cobras can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 669th, while TERRA Environmental are ranked 287th).

South Miami's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Jaiden Smoak, who went 5 for 8 on his way to 12 points and six rebounds. Mehki Powell was another key player, going 5 of 8 on his way to 10 points and five rebounds.

Cobras

Assists

12/19/24 vs TERRA Environmental	15
12/17/24 @ Killian	14
12/10/24 @ American	14
12/05/24 vs Coral Park	9

Even though they lost, South Miami was working as a unit and finished the game with 15 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.

It was another big night for Mateo Baron, who went 13 of 28 on his way to 34 points along with five assists and five steals for TERRA Environmental. Baron is crushing it when it comes to points: he's scored at least 15 every time he's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Paul Fabian, who went 5 of 9 on his way to 13 points.

South Miami is on a three-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 1-7. Those losses can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 57.7 points per game. As for TERRA Environmental, the win got them back to even at 3-3.

South Miami didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next match, a 64-53 victory against Mourning on the 26th. As for TERRA Environmental, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next contest, a 90-65 loss against Plantation on the 26th.