The Largo Lions will challenge the Friendly Patriots at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. One thing working in Largo's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last five matches.
Largo is probably headed into the game with a chip on their shoulder considering Gwynn Park just ended the team's four-game winning streak on Tuesday. They took a 74-67 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Yellowjackets. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Monday (61), the Lions still had to take the loss.
| 01/28/25 vs Gwynn Park | 20 |
| 01/27/25 vs Surrattsville | 22 |
| 01/24/25 vs Bladensburg | 25 |
| 01/23/25 vs Fairmont Heights | 30 |
Largo's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Aleah Rodriguez, who went 9 for 15 on her way to 24 points, and Aysiah Harris, who went 6 of 13 en route to 20 points and three steals. The contest was Harris' fourth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Noelle Crosby, who posted six points and five steals.
Meanwhile, Friendly played a tough match on Tuesday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They took a blow against Douglass, falling 71-38. The Patriots were down 53-27 at the end of the third quarter, and things only got worse from there.
Largo will have to contain Jasmine Germany as she made an impact in Friendly's last game. She went 8 for 12 en route to 22 points and six steals. Germany has been hot, having posted 17 or more points the last six times she's played. Andrea Hardy was another key player, going 6 of 11 on her way to 13 points along with eight boards and four blocks.
Largo's defeat ended a five-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 8-3. As for Friendly, their loss was their first in the region, dropping their region record down to 7-1 and their overall record down to 9-4.
Keep an eye on the arc in Thursday's game: Largo has been dynamite from deep this season, having made 43.5% of their three-pointers per game. It's a different story for Friendly, though, as they've only made 22.6% of their three-pointers this season. Given Largo's sizable advantage in that area, Friendly will need to find a way to close that gap.
Everything came up roses for Largo against Friendly when the teams last played back in January of 2024, as the squad secured a 49-17 victory. Will Largo repeat their success, or does Friendly have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
