The Lecanto Panthers waltzed into Thursday's game with two straight wins but they left with three. They had just enough and edged Springstead out 41-38. This was payback for Lecanto, who suffered a 33-22 loss the last time these two teams met.
Lecanto was led to victory by Bryleigh Florio and Ijyana Edwards. Florio scored 10 points along with 9 steals, while Edwards dropped a double-double on 19 points and 12 rebounds. The contest was Edwards' third in a row with at least ten points. Aaliyah Beaver was another key contributor, scoring 4 points along with 9 rebounds and 5 blocks.
Several Eagles players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Samantha Suarez, who scored 11 points along with 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Suarez scored a full 28.9% of Springstead's points, the second time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Malanie Francis, who scored 9 points along with 13 rebounds.
Lecanto's win bumped their record up to 3-0. As for Springstead, their loss dropped their record down to 2-2.
Lecanto won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Hernando at 7:30 p.m. on December 1st. As for Springstead, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Dunnellon at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Hopefully Dunnellon focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 26 on Saturday.
