The Ocoee Knights just played last night, but they'll still head out to face the Colonial Grenadiers at 7:30 p.m. on January 19th. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Ocoee comes in on nine and Colonial on ten.
Ocoee put the finishing touches on their ninth blowout victory of the season on Thursday. They blew past Freedom 60-27 at home. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 37-12.
Micah Hannah and Jayla Weiser were among the main playmakers for Ocoee as the former scored ten points along with eight steals and the latter scored eight points along with nine steals. Hannah is absolutely dominating the steal category: she's posted at least two every time she's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Anjelle Kerr, who scored eight points along with seven rebounds and two steals.
Colonial posted their biggest win since November 28, 2023 last Wednesday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Mainland 61-25 at home. Given Colonial's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked fourth, while Mainland is ranked 46th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Colonial's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Jasmine Bocca led the charge by scoring 15 points along with three steals. Another player making a difference was Jasmynne Gibson, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and ten rebounds.
Ocoee has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 11 of their last 12 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 13-3 record this season. As for Colonial, their victory was their 12th straight at home, which pushed their record up to 17-2.
Friday's game is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Ocoee have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 30.3 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Colonial, though, as they've been averaging only 28 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Ocoee lost to Colonial on the road by a decisive 45-29 margin in their previous matchup back in December of 2022. Can Ocoee avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
