The Land O' Lakes Gators and the Parrish Community Bulls will face off at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday without much rest having both just played. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Land O' Lakes is probably headed into the match with a chip on their shoulder considering Berkeley Prep just ended the team's three-game winning streak on Friday. They took a 52-41 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Buccaneers.
Land O' Lakes' loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Jessi Saffold, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 12 steals, and Alex Nichols, who went 5 for 12 on her way to 18 points and five rebounds. That was a full 39% of Land O' Lakes' points, marking the fourth time in a row she's posted more than a third of the team's points.
Meanwhile, Parrish Community was beaten by Countryside 56-19 on Friday. While losing is never fun, the Bulls can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 378th, while the Cougars are ranked 143rd).
Despite the defeat, Parrish Community saw an underclassman step up: freshman Romana Lind dropped a double-double on ten points and ten boards. Lind has become a key player for Parrish Community: the team is 3-1 when she posts at least eight boards, but 1-6 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Riley Lee, who put up four points and five rebounds.
Even though they lost, Parrish Community smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 32 consecutive contests dating back to last season.
Parrish Community has been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four games, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-7 record this season. As for Land O' Lakes, their loss dropped their record down to 6-4.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Land O' Lakes has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 36.3 boards per game. However, it's not like Parrish Community struggles in that department as they've been averaging 39.5 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Land O' Lakes lost to Parrish Community on the road by a decisive 61-44 margin in their previous matchup back in December of 2023. Can Land O' Lakes avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
