It may have taken overtime to finish the job, but the Lecanto Panthers ultimately got the result they hoped for on Tuesday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Springstead and snuck past 53-50. The win was familiar territory for Lecanto who now have three in a row.
Lecanto got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Ijyana Edwards out in front who scored 25 points along with three steals. That makes it three consecutive games in which Edwards has scored at least 25% of Lecanto's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Bryleigh Florio, who scored 14 points along with six steals.
Several Eagles players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was J'ziyah Munford, who scored 15 points along with five assists and five steals. That's the first time this season that Munford scored 15 or more points. Samantha Suarez was another key contributor, scoring 11 points along with six assists.
Lecanto's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-1. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 56.0 points per game. As for Springstead, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-3.
Lecanto won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against Gateway at 6:00 p.m. on December 13th. Gateway presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Lecanto in Florida (Gateway is ranked 76th, while Lecanto is ranked 202nd). As for Springstead, they will head out on the road to face off against Hernando at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. That game will pit two of the most dominant players against one another: Kayla Holloman and Suarez.
