The Cypress Lake Panthers's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Thursday after their fifth straight loss. They fell just short of First Baptist Academy by a score of 48-46. While losing is never fun, Cypress Lake can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 355th, while First Baptist Academy is ranked 86th).
Despite the loss, Cypress Lake still got an impressive performance from Giordan Easely, who scored 18 points along with five assists and three steals. That was a full 39.1% of Cypress Lake's points, marking the fifth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Eli Reed, who scored seven points.
Cypress Lake has not been sharp recently, as they've lost nine of their last ten matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 8-11 record this season. As for First Baptist Academy, the victory was the sixth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 16-3.
Cypress Lake won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against North Fort Myers at 7:30 p.m. on January 26th. North Fort Myers has now lost eight straight, and the team is hunting for their first win since December 8. First Baptist Academy won't have much time to rest: their next match is against East Lee County at 7:30 p.m. on January 26th. East Lee County is hoping to put an end to a three-game streak of away losses.
