The Parrish Community Bulls and the Braden River Pirates squared off in some playoff action on Thursday, but sadly the Parrish Community Bulls had to settle for second. They had to suffer through a rough 80-50 loss at the hands of the Pirates. While losing is never fun, Parrish Community can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 286th, while Braden River is ranked 102nd).
Parrish Community's loss came despite strong showings from Malakai Cuffy and Dylan Higgins. Cuffy scored 21 points along with two steals, while Higgins scored 14 points. Cuffy is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last ten games he's played. Another player making a difference was Lane Tomlinson, who scored five points.
Leading Braden River to victory were Isaac Heaven and Marcus Schade. Heaven scored 22 points along with five assists and five rebounds, while Schade almost dropped a double-double on 28 points and nine rebounds. Heaven is trending in the right direction, as he's improved his point production for three games straight. The team also got some help courtesy of Dudache Belony, who scored seven points along with two steals.
Parrish Community has not been sharp recently as the team has lost three of their last four games, which put a noticeable dent in their 16-9 record this season. As for Braden River, the victory was the third in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 17-8.
Parrish Community does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Braden River, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Sebring at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. Braden River has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.
