Gulf is 0-9 against Sunlake since November of 2014 but things could change on Thursday. The Gulf Buccaneers are taking a road trip to face off against the Sunlake Seahawks at 6:30 p.m.
Gulf is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 76 points last Tuesday, they were much more limited against River Ridge on Tuesday. They took a blow against the Royal Knights, falling 50-23. The game marked the Buccaneers' lowest-scoring match so far this season.
Meanwhile, Sunlake had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 22.3 points) and they went ahead and made it four on Thursday. They walked away with a 43-30 win over the Panthers. Given the Seahawks' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 139th, while the Panthers are ranked 282nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Gulf better keep an eye on Kaycie Hyde. She was instrumental in Sunlake's win, going 6 of 8 en route to 15 points in addition to eight boards and five steals. Hyde has been hot for a while, having posted two or more steals the last 16 times she's played. Cherity Powells was another key player, putting up seven points along with nine rebounds and seven steals.
Sunlake smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 12 offensive boards in eight consecutive contests.
Sunlake is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight matches, which provided a nice bump to their 13-5 record this season. As for Gulf, their loss dropped their record down to 9-5.
Gulf was dealt a bruising 54-12 defeat at the hands of Sunlake when the teams last played back in January of 2024. Can Gulf avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
