The Zephyrhills Bulldogs's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Wednesday after their third straight loss. They fell to Wiregrass Ranch 69-63. Despite running the score up even higher than they did last Friday (60), Zephyrhills still had to take the loss.
Wiregrass Ranch's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but KJ Smith led the charge by scoring 19 points along with eight rebounds. The match was Smith's fifth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Preston Linville, who scored 15 points.
Zephyrhills has traveled a rocky road recently, as they've lost four of their last five contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-7 record this season. As for Wiregrass Ranch, they are on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last ten matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 15-2 record this season.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Zephyrhills won't have much time to rest: their next match is against South Sumter at 7:30 p.m. on January 11th. South Sumter has insisted on making their lastthree contests complete nail-biters, turning in a record of 1-2 during that stretch of close contests. As for Wiregrass Ranch, they will be playing at home against Cypress Creek at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Cypress Creek will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Florida Rankings (they are ranked 385th, while Wiregrass Ranch is ranked 47th).
