After both having extra time off, the Lake Wales Highlanders and the Haines City Hornets will dust off their jerseys to challenge one another at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday. Lake Wales is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 59.5 points per game this season.
Two weeks ago, Lake Wales made easy work of Lake Region and carried off a 68-45 victory. The Highlanders have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six matchups by 23 points or more this season.
Lake Wales' win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Vanessa Squire, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and ten boards. Squire also grabbed five steals, which is notable because Lake Wales is 7-3 when she posts at least five steals, but 1-2 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Tateyanna Mickel, who posted 14 points and six steals.
Lake Wales smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 12 offensive rebounds in five consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Haines City was not able to break out of their rough patch last Friday as the team picked up their fifth straight defeat. The game between them and Carrollton didn't end well, with Haines City falling 66-50.
Despite the loss, Haines City saw an underclassman step up: freshman Delissa Morris went 5 of 10 on her way to 16 points in addition to seven rebounds and three steals. Morris has been hot for a while, having posted two or more steals the last ten times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Olivia Howard, who went 5 of 12 on her way to 10 points and eight rebounds.
Lake Wales has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 8-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 62.0 points per game. As for Haines City, their defeat dropped their record down to 8-5.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Lake Wales has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 29.7 boards per game. However, it's not like Haines City struggles in that department as they've been averaging 30.5 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Lake Wales ended up a good deal behind Haines City when the teams last played on December 5th, losing 51-35. Will Lake Wales have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other basketball content.
