Palm Beach Gardens has been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. They took an 81-68 hit to the loss column at the hands of the St. John Paul II Academy Eagles on Thursday. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as the Gators came into the game with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 170th, while the Eagles are ranked 369th).
Palm Beach Gardens' defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Montray Coley, who went 5 of 7 on his way to 10 points and seven boards. Enorck Vincent was another key player, going 6 for 13 en route to 16 points and five rebounds.
Gators
| 01/16/25 @ St. John Paul II Academy | 21 |
| 01/07/25 vs Palm Beach Central | 19 |
| 01/09/25 @ Leonard | 14 |
| 12/30/24 vs Jupiter | 9 |
| 01/14/25 vs Dwyer | 6 |
Even though they lost, Palm Beach Gardens smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 21 offensive boards. That's the most offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
Dior Johnson continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines for St. John Paul II Academy, going 11 of 21 on his way to 31 points and four steals. The matchup was Johnson's fourth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Nick Durham, who went 6 for 9 en route to 14 points.
Palm Beach Gardens' loss dropped their record down to 11-6. As for St. John Paul II Academy, their record is now 11-9.
Palm Beach Gardens will challenge Saint Andrew's at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. One thing working in Saint Andrew's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points every time they've taken the court this season. As for St. John Paul II Academy, they didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 69-53 victory against Lake Worth Christian on the 17th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
