The Booker Tornadoes lost against the Cardinal Mooney Cougars back in January, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Wednesday. Booker took a 53-41 hit to the loss column at the hands of Cardinal Mooney. While losing is never fun, Booker can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 505th, while Cardinal Mooney is ranked 214th).
Booker's loss came despite strong showings from Kaiden Wright and Jovan Palavra. Wright scored 13 points, while Palavra scored 13 points. The contest was Palavra's seventh in a row with at least ten points. Darius Behn was another key contributor, scoring seven points.
It was another big night for Connor Heald, who scored 18 points along with three steals for Cardinal Mooney. That makes it five consecutive games in which Heald has scored at least 25% of Cardinal Mooney's points. Another player making a difference was Cooper Smith, who scored 12 points along with five rebounds.
Booker has traveled a rocky road recently, as they've lost four of their last five matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-8 record this season. As for Cardinal Mooney, their win bumped their record up to 7-5.
Booker won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Dunbar at 4:30 p.m. on December 28th. Cardinal Mooney won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Riverview Sarasota at 7:45 p.m. on December 28th. One thing working in Riverview Sarasota's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last five matches.
