After a string of three wins, the Matanzas Pirates's good fortune finally ran out on Saturday. They ended up on the wrong side of a tough 72-49 walloping at the hands of University Christian. While losing is never fun, Matanzas can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 376th, while University Christian is ranked 179th).
Several Pirates players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Tariq Shakir, who scored 17 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Rya'sir Jefferson, who scored 13 points along with five assists and two steals.
University Christian's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Augustine Ayelyine led the charge by scoring nine points along with 11 rebounds. Another player making a difference was Karrington Johnson, who scored nine points along with two steals.
Matanzas' defeat dropped their record down to 6-10. As for University Christian, the win (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 6-8.
Matanzas will be staying on the road on Monday to face off against Davenport at 3:00 p.m. on January 15th. Davenport is coming into the game on a three-game losing streak. As for University Christian, they will square off against Oakleaf at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. One thing working in Oakleaf's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last three matchups.
