Nease has enjoyed the comforts of home their last three games, but now they'll head out on the road. The Nease Panthers and the Creekside Knights will face off at 7:30 p.m. on January 25th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Hopefully Nease focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 15 on Tuesday.
After soaring to a 29-point victory in their last game, Nease came back down to earth on Tuesday. They fell just short of Bartram Trail by a score of 40-37. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest loss Nease has suffered yet this season.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the most dominant came from McKenna Owens, who scored 11 points along with five rebounds and two steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Abilgail Robinson, who scored six points along with three steals.
Meanwhile, Creekside waltzed into their game on Friday with two straight wins but they left with three. They breezed by Oakleaf at home to the tune of 46-19. Given Creekside's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 123rd, while Oakleaf is ranked 266th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Creekside found their leader in underclassman Presley Brinkley, who scored 15 points along with four steals. That's the first time this season that Brinkley scored 15 or more points. Cami Waters was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on ten points and 11 rebounds.
Nease's defeat dropped their record down to 11-10. As for Creekside, they pushed their record up to 8-7 with that win, which was their fourth straight at home.
Nease skirted past Creekside 31-29 when the teams last played back in December of 2022. The rematch might be a little tougher for Nease since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
