After losing to Crystal River the last time they met, Hernando decided to demonstrate that turnabout is fair play. The Hernando Leopards strolled past the Crystal River Pirates with points to spare on Tuesday, taking the game 67-53. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Leopards.
| 01/14/25 vs Crystal River | 4 |
| 01/13/25 @ Angeline Academy of Innovation | 3 |
| 12/17/24 @ Weeki Wachee | 3 |
| 12/12/23 vs Crystal River | 2 |
| 12/05/24 @ Hudson | 2 |
Hernando's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Michael Brown led the charge by dropping a double-double on 14 points and ten rebounds. The dominant performance also gave Brown a new career-high in blocks (four). Another player making a difference was Daniel Merizalde, who went 7 for 13 en route to 17 points and five assists.
Hernando smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their offensive board total in three consecutive contests.
Several Pirates players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Ej Jenkins, who went 5 of 10 on his way to 10 points and seven boards. Jake Yost was another key player, going 5 for 12 en route to 12 points.
Hernando's win bumped their record up to 13-5. As for Crystal River, their defeat dropped their record down to 9-7.
Hernando will head out on the road to face off against Citrus at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Hernando is facing Citrus at the right time seeing as Citrus is stuck on a seven-game losing streak. Crystal River has already played their next match (against Nature Coast Tech), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
