The Norland Vikings were the 67-23 winner over the Southridge Spartans when they last played one another back in December of 2022, but their luck changed this time around. Norland fell 58-46 to Southridge on Wednesday. While losing is never fun, Norland can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 193rd, while Southridge is ranked 31st).
Norland's loss came despite strong showings from Shania Swan and Jasmine Johnson. Swan dropped a double-double on 16 points and ten rebounds, while Johnson scored 18 points along with seven rebounds. That was a full 39.1% of Norland's points, marking the fifth time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Myah Newton, who scored five points along with 11 rebounds.
Shanaii Gamble was her usual excellent self, dropping a double-double on 20 points and 12 rebounds for Southridge. Gamble hasn't dropped below two steals for ten straight games. Another player making a difference was Dianka Hardisson, who scored 12 points along with three steals.
Norland has been struggling recently, as they've lost nine of their last 11 matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-10 record this season. As for Southridge, their win bumped their record up to 10-3.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Norland will challenge Lakewood at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Lakewood has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games. Southridge won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against Sports Leadership & Management at 7:30 p.m. on January 11th.
