The Crystal River Pirates and the Lecanto Panthers will face off at 7:30 p.m. on December 5th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Friday, Crystal River earned a 61-49 win over Citrus. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Crystal River.
Crystal River can attribute much of their success to Zachary Hamilton, who scored 14 points along with 5 assists, and EJ Jenkins, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 11 rebounds. Jenkins is absolutely dominating the block category: he's posted at least two every time he's taken the court this season. Gavin Eddings was another key contributor, scoring 12 points along with 5 rebounds and 3 steals.
Meanwhile, even though West Port scored an imposing 57 points on Saturday, Lecanto still came out on top. Lecanto took their match against West Port 69-57.
Lecanto can attribute much of their success to Jt Tipton, who went 6 for 12 from beyond the arc en route to 27 points and 7 assists. The game was Tipton's third in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Braylen Moore, who scored 15 points along with 9 rebounds and 4 steals.
Crystal River's victory bumped their season record to 2-1 while Citrus' loss dropped theirs to 0-2.
Tuesday's match is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Crystal River have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 38 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Lecanto struggles in that department as they've been even better at 38.3 per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.
Crystal River was dealt a bruising 85-39 loss at the hands of Lecanto in their previous meeting back in January. Can Crystal River avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
