The Minneola Wildcats will head out on the road to challenge the LaCrosse Leopards on Friday. Hopefully Minneola focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 11 on Tuesday.
It's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 76-44, which was the final score in Minneola's tilt against Meade. Minneola has not had much luck with Meade recently, as the team's come up short the last eight times they've met.
Despite their defeat, Minneola saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Eli Lang, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 12 rebounds, was perhaps the best of all. Lang has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last seven times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Levi Lang, who scored 12 points along with five rebounds and two steals.
Meanwhile, LaCrosse entered their tilt with Pawnee Heights with nine consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with ten. LaCrosse took their match on the road on Tuesday with ease, bagging a 77-49 victory over Pawnee Heights. LaCrosse has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won ten games by 20 points or more this season.
LaCrosse got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Logan Skillett out in front who almost dropped a double-double on 20 points and nine rebounds. Skillett also grabbed two+ steals for the first time this season. Caden Morgan was another key contributor, scoring 21 points along with eight assists.
Minneola's loss dropped their record down to 8-11. As for LaCrosse, they pushed their record up to 15-2-1 with that win, which was their fourth straight on the road.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Minneola have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 29.5 rebounds per game. However, it's not like LaCrosse struggles in that department as they've been averaging 33.2 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Minneola was taken down by LaCrosse 85-30 in their previous matchup back in December of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of LaCrosse's Lee Holopirek, who went 12 for 17 from beyond the arc en route to 36 points and 3 assists. Now that Minneola knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
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