The American Heritage Stallions had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 21.3 points), and they went ahead and made it four on Tuesday. They pulled ahead with a 62-61 photo finish over Benjamin. Given American Heritage's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 130th, while the Buccaneers are ranked 352nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
American Heritage's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Xander Gerard, who scored 22 points. Gerard has been hot recently, having posted 16 or more points the last four times he's played. Another player making a difference was Brendan Gerard, who scored 14 points along with seven assists and two steals.
American Heritage pushed their record up to 14-6 with that victory, which was their 13th straight at home dating back to last season. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 66.4 points per game. As for Benjamin, their loss dropped their record down to 8-12.
American Heritage will be playing at home against the Cougars at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Benjamin's road trip will continue as they head out to face the Crusaders at 7:00 p.m. on February 1st. One thing working in Cardinal Newman's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last nine games.
