A feisty cat fight is on tap when the Hardee Wildcats face off against the Mulberry Panthers on Thursday... Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Hardee is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Liberty 57-13. The Wildcats have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven matches by 25 points or more this season.
| 02/04/25 vs Liberty | 6 |
| 01/31/25 vs Northeast | 6 |
| 01/28/25 vs Frostproof | 2 |
| 01/24/25 vs Santa Fe Catholic | 9 |
| 01/21/25 vs Mulberry | 4 |
Tylia Graham continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, going 10 for 20 en route to 21 points in addition to seven rebounds and six steals. She has been hot, having posted two or more steals the last eight times she's played. Another player making a difference was Rihanna Frederick, who posted 16 points along with five boards and five steals.
Meanwhile, Mulberry waltzed into their game on Saturday with 12 straight wins... but they left with 13. They enjoyed a cozy 47-32 win over the Cougars. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 108th, while the Cougars are ranked 244th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Hardee better keep an eye on Lorianys Castanon Cruz. She was instrumental in Mulberry's win, going 7 of 17 on her way to 26 points in addition to seven steals and six rebounds. That makes it 17 consecutive games in which Castanon Cruz has scored at least a third of Mulberry's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Alanah Rau, who scored eight points.
Hardee has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a nice bump to their 10-8 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 25.0 points per game. As for Mulberry, their victory bumped their record up to 16-1.
Hardee suffered a grim 52-29 defeat to Mulberry in their previous matchup two weeks ago. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Castanon Cruz, who earned 23 points. Now that Hardee 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
