The Palmetto Ridge Bears and the Fort Myers Green Wave will face off at 7:30 p.m. on January 23rd without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Palmetto Ridge is looking to tack on another W to their six-game streak on the road.
On Saturday, Palmetto Ridge came up short against Sarasota and fell 65-54.
Palmetto Ridge's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Calven Charles, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and ten rebounds, and Jaden Brightmon who scored 15 points. That's the first time this season that Brightmon scored 15 or more points. Another player making a difference was Jaydon Soto, who scored four points along with six assists.
Meanwhile, Fort Myers didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Dunbar on Thursday, but they still walked away with a 49-43 victory. Given Fort Myers' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 192nd, while Dunbar is ranked 653rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Fort Myers relied on the efforts of Therry Theresias, who scored 11 points along with nine rebounds, and Marquielle Tory, who scored 17 points along with eight rebounds and two steals. Tory is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last 14 games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Alex Thelusma, who scored six points along with two steals.
Palmetto Ridge's defeat dropped their record down to 16-3. As for Fort Myers, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 12-7 record this season.
Fans should be in for an exciting game on Tuesday as the pair are among the highest scoring teams in the league right now. Palmetto Ridge hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having only averaged 56.9 points per game. It's a different story for Fort Myers, though, as they've been averaging only 58.1 points per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Palmetto Ridge ended up a good deal behind Fort Myers in their previous matchup back in February of 2022, losing 62-47. Thankfully for Palmetto Ridge, Tyler Schultz (who scored 18 points along with six rebounds) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
