The Gulf Buccaneers will be home for the holidays to greet the East Lake Eagles at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Gulf comes in still looking for their first win of the season.
Gulf pushed their score all the way to 57 on Wednesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They received a tough blow as they fell 76-57 to Mitchell.
Despite their loss, Gulf saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Jeremiah Long, who scored 18 points along with six rebounds, was perhaps the best of all. Long scored a full 31.6% of Gulf's points, the sixth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Zamil Larry, who scored 15 points.
Gulf struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only three offensive rebounds. That's the fewest offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, after a string of seven wins, East Lake's good fortune finally ran out on Thursday. They fell 56-48 to Countryside. The result shouldn't come as a shock considering that's the fewest points East Lake has scored all season.
Despite the loss, East Lake saw an underclassman step up: Anthony Brown scored 19 points along with nine rebounds and three blocks. The matchup was Brown's fifth in a row with at least ten points. Jeremiah Cooper was another key contributor, scoring 14 points.
Gulf's defeat dropped their record down to 0-6. As for East Lake, their defeat ended a five-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 7-2.
Friday's match is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Gulf have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 37.3% of their threes per game. However, it's not like East Lake struggles in that department as they've drained 43.7% of their threes per game this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Come back here after the game to get analysis of the match and other basketball content.
