Basketball Recap: Lecanto Takes a Loss

Lecanto lost against River Ridge back in February of 2024 and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Friday. The Lecanto Panthers opened the new year with a less-than-successful 44-34 defeat to the River Ridge Royal Knights. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 266th, while the Royal Knights are ranked 128th).

Despite the loss, Lecanto saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Aleena Borgus almost dropped a double-double on 14 points and nine boards. Borgus is on a roll when it comes to boards, as she's now pulled down eight or more in the last seven games she's played.

Even though they lost, Lecanto smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in eight consecutive contests.

River Ridge's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Lexi Wade led the charge by going 5 of 8 on her way to 11 points along with six boards and three steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Karsyn Miller, who went 5 of 10 on her way to 10 points.

Lecanto's defeat dropped their record down to 6-6. As for River Ridge, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 11-6.

Lecanto didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next game, a 66-31 victory against Land O' Lakes on the 4th. As for River Ridge, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next match, a 64-45 win against Boone on the 4th.