Two dominant players in Leah Barker and Taylor Bedinghaus are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Palm Harbor University Hurricanes will be playing in front of their home fans against the Clearwater Central Catholic Marauders at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Palm Harbor University had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 25.3 points), and they went ahead and made it five on Friday. Everything went their way against Hollins as Palm Harbor University made off with a 48-24 win. Given Palm Harbor University's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 217th, while Hollins is ranked 604th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, Clearwater Central Catholic scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Thursday. They really took it to Dunedin for the full four quarters, racking up a 76-36 victory at home. The win was familiar territory for Clearwater Central Catholic who now have five in a row.
Clearwater Central Catholic relied on the efforts of Bedinghaus, who scored 14 points, and Cali Smitley, who scored 15 points. That's the first time this season that Smitley scored 15 or more points. The team also got some help courtesy of Emme Dalhoff, who scored 13 points.
Palm Harbor University is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 13-6 record this season. As for Clearwater Central Catholic, their victory bumped their record up to 15-2.
Palm Harbor University came up short against Clearwater Central Catholic in their previous matchup back in December of 2023, falling 49-39. Will Palm Harbor University have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get analysis of the match and other basketball content.
