The Land O' Lakes Gators's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Monday after their seventh straight loss. They received a tough blow as they fell 62-44 to East Lake. While losing is never fun, Land O' Lakes can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 421st, while East Lake is ranked 129th).
Loss or not, Land O' Lakes got some senior leadership from Jordan Massie and Maxwell Moore. Massie scored 18 points along with seven rebounds and two steals, while Moore. scored 16 points. Massie is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Jayden Todd, who scored eight points.
East Lake's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Jeremiah Cooper led the charge by scoring 12 points along with three steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Brody Church, who scored 15 points.
Land O' Lakes has been struggling recently, as they've lost eight of their last nine contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-14 record this season. As for East Lake, they have been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a nice bump to their 14-6 record this season.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Land O' Lakes the luxury of staying home another game and will welcome Springstead at 8:00 p.m. on January 24th. East Lake won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Largo at 7:45 p.m. on January 23rd. One thing working in Largo's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last six contests.
