After flying high against the Shorecrest Prep Chargers back in December of 2023, the Northside Christian Mustangs came back down to earth. Northside Christian ended up on the wrong side of a tough 56-33 walloping at the hands of Clearwater Central Catholic on Thursday. Northside Christian has struggled against Clearwater Central Catholic recently, as their contest on Thursday was their seventh consecutive lost matchup.
Northside Christian's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Lilyana Scull, who scored eight points. The team also got some help courtesy of Ava Somers, who scored six points.
Clearwater Central Catholic's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Taylor Bedinghaus, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and ten rebounds. Bedinghaus continues to roll, besting her previous point total in each of the last four games she's played. Another player making a difference was Emme Dalhoff, who scored nine points along with 11 assists and eight rebounds.
Northside Christian's defeat ended a six-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 5-3. As for Clearwater Central Catholic, the victory makes it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 12-2.
Northside Christian won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Hernando Christian Academy at 6:30 p.m. on January 12th. Hernando Christian Academy has insisted on making their lastthree contests complete nail-biters, turning in a record of 2-1 during that stretch of close contests. As for Clearwater Central Catholic, they will take on Largo at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Largo will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Florida Rankings (they are ranked 361st, while Clearwater Central Catholic is ranked 105th).
