Two teams were on the hunt for playoff glory, but only the Mariner Tritons walked away with it. They breezed by the Gators at home to the tune of 96-65 on Thursday. Given Mariner's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 88th, while Island Coast is ranked 511th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Marcus Kelley Jr continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a double-double on 25 points and 12 assists. He hasn't dropped below 15 points for seven straight games. Another player making a difference was Justin Lewis, who scored 17 points along with six rebounds and five steals.
Island Coast's loss came despite strong showings from SirJoshua Anderson and Jose Bido. Anderson scored 19 points, while Bido scored 12 points along with seven rebounds and six assists. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Anderson has scored all season. Mathias Harmon was another key contributor, scoring eight points.
Mariner has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 16-9 record this season. As for Island Coast, they now have a losing record at 12-13.
Mariner will take on Cypress Lake at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. One thing working in Mariner's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last eight matchups. Island Coast does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
