The Viera Hawks's game last Wednesday was a tough loss, but they didn't let that memory haunt them on Friday. They blew past Merritt Island 84-28 at home. The game was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 51-17.
Leading Viera to victory were Lauren Bell and Phantasia Lauriston. Bell scored 23 points along with two steals, while Lauriston scored 26 points along with seven rebounds and six steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Lauriston has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Yasmin Croom, who scored 13 points along with four steals.
Despite the loss, Merritt Island still got an impressive performance from Jaliah Jones, who scored nine points along with three steals.
Merritt Island struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only four offensive rebounds. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Viera pulled down 15 offensive rebounds.
Viera's win ended a five-game drought at home and bumped them up to 10-13. As for Merritt Island, they dropped their record down to 4-18 with that defeat, which was their third straight on the road.
Viera will be playing in front of their home fans against Melbourne at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Melbourne has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games. Merritt Island is on the road again on Monday and plays Lincoln Park Academy at 6:00 p.m. on February 5th. Lincoln Park Academy has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 217 points over their last three matches.
