Two dominant guards in Ashlynn Day and Evelyn Juden are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Gateway Panthers will be home for the holidays to greet the Celebration Storm at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. One thing working in Gateway's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points every time they've taken the court this season.
Gateway is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They took their contest on Tuesday with ease, bagging a 79-31 win over South Lake. The Panthers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven games by 37 points or more this season.
Meanwhile, after a string of three wins, Celebration's good fortune finally ran out on Wednesday. They fell 54-45 to St. Cloud. While losing is never fun, the Storm can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 269th, while the Bulldogs are ranked 131st).
Despite the loss, Celebration saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Juden went 13 of 23 on her way to 29 points along with eight boards and four steals. That was a full 64.4% of Celebration's points, marking the ninth time in a row she's posted more than a third of the team's points.
Even though they lost, Celebration smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 18 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive rebounds in five consecutive matches.
Gateway's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 7-2. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 26.3 points per game. As for Celebration, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-4.
Everything came up roses for Gateway against Celebration in their previous matchup back in January, as the squad secured a 52-21 win. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Juden, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 18 rebounds. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Gateway still be able to contain Juden? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
