If the Bartow Yellow Jackets were riding high off their 66-35 takedown of the Lake Wales Highlanders last Friday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. Bartow's tough 80-56 loss to Winter Haven on Thursday might stick with them for a while. While losing is never fun, Bartow can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 176th, while Winter Haven is ranked fourth).
Several Yellow Jackets players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Messiah Borders, who scored 16 points along with five assists. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Borders has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Antwan Willis, who scored 13 points.
Bartow's defeat was their third straight on the road, which bumped their record down to 8-8. As for Winter Haven, the win (which was their 14th in a row) raised their record to 14-1.
Bartow will head out on the road to square off against Lake Gibson at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. As for Winter Haven, they will square off against Florida State University High School at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday. Florida State University High School has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 395 points over their last six matches.
