After flying high against the Brandon Eagles last Wednesday, the King Lions came back down to earth. King took a 38-32 hit to the loss column at the hands of Wharton. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for King in their matchups with Wharton: they've now lost six in a row.
King's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Jabriel Hakim, who scored ten points along with six rebounds. Another player making a difference was Andreas Jackson, who scored two points along with 12 rebounds and five blocks.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Wharton to victory, but perhaps none more so than Aj Jones, who scored 12 points along with five rebounds. Nick Womack was another key contributor, scoring 14 points along with five rebounds and two steals.
King's defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 9-8. As for Wharton, they pushed their record up to 9-7 with that win, which was their third straight on the road.
King will face off against Jesuit at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Jesuit presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than King in Florida (Jesuit is ranked 66th, while King is ranked 379th). Wharton won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against Martin County at 4:00 p.m. on January 13th.
