The Lakeland Lakers had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 16.3 points), and they went ahead and made it four on Saturday. They came out on top against Fort Wayne Northrop by a score of 59-49. Given Lakeland's advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 181st, while Fort Wayne Northrop is ranked 379th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Nate Keil continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, scoring 19 points along with six assists and six rebounds. He also posted two+ blocks for the first time this season. Kyle Hartsough was another key contributor, scoring nine points along with seven rebounds.
Fort Wayne Northrop lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Donlaray Reese jr, who scored 14 points. Those 14 points set a new season-high mark for him. The team also got some help courtesy of James Browning, who scored eight points along with seven rebounds.
Lakeland's victory bumped their record up to 5-2. As for Fort Wayne Northrop, they still haven't won a game yet this season and fell to 0-8.
Lakeland's road trip will continue as they head out to face Michigan City at 3:30 p.m. on December 23rd. Fort Wayne Northrop will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on Fort Wayne Snider at 7:45 p.m. on January 5, 2024.
