The Stanton Blue Devils posted their closest win yet this season on Wednesday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 63-60 victory over First Coast. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
Gabrielle Fajardo was her usual excellent self, scoring 22 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points she has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Catherine Brewer, who scored 14 points.
First Coast's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Sha'niah Bennett, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 19 rebounds. That's the first time this season that Bennett scored 15 or more points. Lauren Maitland was another key contributor, scoring 12 points along with four steals.
Stanton's win bumped their record up to 7-9. As for First Coast, their loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 9-7.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Stanton will face off against Nease at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Nease focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 19 on Thursday. First Coast won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Mandarin at 6:00 p.m. on January 25th. Mandarin presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than First Coast in Florida (Mandarin is ranked 110th, while First Coast is ranked 456th).
