The Palm Beach Gardens Gators entered their tilt with the Dwyer Panthers with five consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with six. Palm Beach Gardens took down Dwyer 61-46 on Thursday. Given Palm Beach Gardens' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 37th, while Dwyer is ranked 149th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Kyana Poitier was her usual excellent self, dropping a double-double on 18 points and 18 rebounds. She continues to roll, besting her previous point total in each of the last three games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Alicia Russell, who scored 14 points along with five assists and five rebounds.
Dwyer's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was C'Orna Greene, who scored nine points along with five rebounds and three steals. Amy Manzano was another key contributor, scoring 16 points along with six rebounds and five steals.
Dwyer struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only four offensive rebounds. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Palm Beach Gardens pulled down 13 offensive rebounds.
Palm Beach Gardens pushed their record up to 14-2 with that victory, which was their sixth straight at home. As for Dwyer, their loss dropped their record down to 6-6.
Palm Beach Gardens and North Broward Prep will face off at 7:00 p.m. on January 17th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Dwyer won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Miami Country Day at 6:30 p.m. on January 12th.
