Escambia is on a three-game streak of home losses, Northview a nine-game streak of away losses dating back to last season, but someone's luck will change on Friday. The Escambia Gators will welcome the Northview Chiefs at 5:30 p.m. Given that both suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this game.
Escambia is likely headed into the match with a focus on the second half, which is when things went downhill against Tate on Wednesday. Escambia fell just short of Tate by a score of 41-38. While the Gators didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Aggies 16-8 in the first quarter.
Despite the defeat, Escambia had strong showings from Brianna Williams, who posted seven points and 23 rebounds, and Tyauna English, who put up 19 points. That was a full 50% of Escambia's points, marking the third time in a row she's had more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Demi Liu, who posted seven points and five rebounds.
Even though they lost, Escambia smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 23 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive rebounds in nine consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Northview was beaten by Pensacola Catholic 65-15 on Thursday. While losing is never fun, the Chiefs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 569th, while the Crusaders are ranked 275th).
Escambia's loss dropped their record down to 3-6. As for Northview, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-9.
Everything came up roses for Escambia against Northview in their previous meeting back in December of 2024, as the squad secured a 55-28 win. Will Escambia repeat their success, or does Northview have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
