If the Pine Ridge Panthers were riding high off their 62-22 takedown of the University Titans on Wednesday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. Pine Ridge was beaten by New Smyrna Beach 63-15 on Thursday. The result shouldn't come as a shock considering that's the fewest points Pine Ridge has scored all season.
Pine Ridge lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Kaylee Roman, who scored five points along with three steals. Serenity Cressor was another key contributor, scoring a point along with ten rebounds.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Pine Ridge struggled to work together and finished the game with only an assist. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as New Smyrna Beach posted 14 assists.
It was another big night for Hailee Mokwe, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 20 rebounds for New Smyrna Beach. Mokwe has been hot recently, having posted two or more blocks the last three times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Selecia Richburgh, who scored nine points along with nine rebounds.
Pine Ridge has been struggling recently, as they've lost six of their last seven games, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-9 record this season. As for New Smyrna Beach, the victory (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 8-5.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Pine Ridge will square off against Legacy Charter at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Hopefully Legacy Charter focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 16 on Thursday. As for New Smyrna Beach, New Smyrna Beach and University will face off at 7:00 p.m. on January 16th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. University is still on the hunt for that elusive first 'W'.
