Basketball Recap: Brandon Rivera's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Bishop Moore over the First Academy

Bishop Moore lost against The First Academy back in January of 2024 and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Tuesday. The Bishop Moore Hornets fell 66-56 to The First Academy Royals. While losing is never fun, the Hornets can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 449th, while the Royals are ranked 98th).

Bishop Moore lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Brandon Rivera, who posted 13 points. Those 13 points gave Rivera a new career-high. Juelz Nu?ez was another key player, putting up 12 points.

Leading The First Academy to victory were Demetrice McCray and Corey Capps. McCray went 7 of 12 on his way to 22 points, while Capps went 5 for 7 on his way to 17 points in addition to five rebounds and three steals. McCray is trending in the right direction considering he's improved his point production for three straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Max Simmons, who almost dropped a double-double on 13 points and nine boards.

Bishop Moore's defeat was their sixth straight at home, which dropped their record down to 2-14. Those losses can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 52.3 points per game. As for The First Academy, the win (which was their sixth in a row) raised their record to 10-2.

Bishop Moore will welcome Rockledge at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. Rockledge is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 52.7 points per game this season. As for The First Academy, they will head out to face off against Oak Ridge at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Oak Ridge has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.