Basketball Recap: Crystal River Falls Despite Big Games from Ej Jenkins and Gavin Eddings

After flying high against West Port last Saturday, Crystal River came back down to earth. The Crystal River Pirates lost 64-43 to the Springstead Eagles on Tuesday. Sadly, that's the second time they've come up short against the Pirates this season, as they also lost their prior matchup 56-45 on January 8th.

Crystal River's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Gavin Eddings, who went 5 for 10 en route to 13 points, and Ej Jenkins, who went 5 of 9 on his way to 10 points and five rebounds. Jenkins has been hot recently, having also posted two or more steals the last three times he's played. Jake Yost was another key player, putting up nine points.

Ryan Sayre went supernova for Springstead, going 7 for 9 from beyond the arc en route to 23 points and five assists. That's the most assists Sayre has posted since back in December of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Jamin Pond, who went 6 of 9 on his way to 14 points and eight boards.

Crystal River's loss ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 13-9. As for Springstead, they pushed their record up to 14-8 with the victory, which was their fifth straight on the road.

Crystal River will venture away from home to face off against Weeki Wachee at 8:00 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Weeki Wachee's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last four matchups. As for Springstead, they wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next contest, a 49-45 defeat against South Sumter on the 29th.