After both having extra time off, the East Lee County Jaguars and the North Fort Myers Red Knights will shake off the cobwebs and face off against one another at 11:00 a.m. on Friday. East Lee County has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the contest with five straight defeats, while North Fort Myers will come in with four straight wins.
Two weeks ago, East Lee County came up short against Oasis and fell 65-52. While losing is never fun, the Jaguars can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 483rd, while the Sharks are ranked 219th).
Meanwhile, North Fort Myers hadn't done well against Cape Coral recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way two weeks ago. North Fort Myers walked away with a 43-30 victory over Cape Coral.
East Lee County better focus on containing Lily Erickson and Amrey Stockeland as the pair were huge in North Fort Myers' win. Erickson posted ten points and five steals, while Stockeland went 6 of 12 on her way to 13 points and five rebounds. What's more, Erickson also racked up three assists, the most she's had since back in January. Another player making a difference was Bianca Iten, who had three points in addition to nine rebounds and seven assists.
North Fort Myers smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in 23 consecutive matches dating back to last season.
North Fort Myers' win was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-2. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 27.8 points per game. As for East Lee County, their loss dropped their record down to 4-9.
East Lee County might still be hurting after the 61-39 defeat they got from North Fort Myers in their previous meeting two weeks ago. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Iten, who dropped a double-double on 24 points and ten boards. Now that East Lee County knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
