Zephyrhills has enjoyed the comforts of home their last three games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will square off against the Springstead Eagles at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Zephyrhills proved they can win big on Friday (they won by 25) but on Tuesday they proved they can win the close ones too. They narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past Lakeland Christian 43-41.
Meanwhile, you can't lose the matchup if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Springstead's strategy against the Leopards on Tuesday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Springstead blew the Leopards out of the water with a 64-35 final score. Springstead pushed the score to 47-23 by the end of the third, a deficit the Leopards had little chance of recovering from.
Austin Nicholson was his usual excellent self, scoring 14 points along with five rebounds and three steals. He also posted two blocks for the first time this season. Another player making a difference was Sam Franco, who scored 12 points.
Zephyrhills is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 12-10 record this season. As for Springstead, their win was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 14-9.
Zephyrhills didn't have too much breathing room in their match against the Eagles when the teams last played back in February of 2020, but they still walked away with a 62-57 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Zephyrhills since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
