Having just played yesterday, the Milton Panthers will get right back to it and host the Niceville Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
Milton is returning to their home court after beating Pensacola Catholic on theirs, despite the fact Pensacola Catholic has dominated at home this season. Milton skirted past Pensacola Catholic 36-34. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Panthers.
Meanwhile, Niceville came tearing into Wednesday's match with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 31.3 points) and they left with even more momentum. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 44-42 win over the Pirates. Given the Eagles' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 70th, while the Pirates are ranked 200th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Niceville's win came from a few key players Milton will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Gabriella Diaz, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and 13 rebounds. Niceville is 16-3 when Diaz posts ten or more boards, but 1-2 otherwise. Carson Fayard was another key player, almost dropping a double-double on ten points and nine rebounds.
Niceville smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 23 offensive boards. That's the most offensive rebounds they've posted since back in December of 2024.
Milton is on a roll lately: they've won 12 of their last 14 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 14-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 29.1 points per game. As for Niceville, their victory was their sixth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 17-5.
Milton took a serious blow against Niceville in their previous meeting back in November of 2024, falling 47-16. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Fayard, who almost dropped a triple-double on 20 points, 11 boards, and nine steals. Now that Milton knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
