If the Palm Beach Lakes Rams were feeling good off their 60-20 takedown of the Sandy Spring Friends Wildebeests two weeks ago, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. Palm Beach Lakes lost to Palm Beach Gardens on the road by a decisive 58-39 margin on Wednesday. While losing is never fun, Palm Beach Lakes can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 156th, while Palm Beach Gardens is ranked 32nd).
Palm Beach Lakes' loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Ezria Pierre-louis, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 12 rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Laniya Hall, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Even though they lost, Palm Beach Lakes smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 21 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Palm Beach Gardens only pulled down 12 offensive rebounds.
It was another big night for Kyana Poitier, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 14 rebounds for Palm Beach Gardens. Azariah Marrero was another key contributor, scoring 14 points along with seven rebounds.
Palm Beach Lakes' defeat dropped their record down to 7-7. As for Palm Beach Gardens, the victory (which was their fifth in a row) raised their record to 13-2.
Palm Beach Lakes' road trip will continue as they head out to face Deerfield Beach at 1:30 p.m. on January 13th. Palm Beach Gardens won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Dwyer at 7:00 p.m. on January 11th.
