Even though the Heritage Panthers scored an imposing 55 points on Wednesday, the Palm Bay Pirates still came out on top. Palm Bay walked away with a 64-55 victory over Heritage. Given Palm Bay's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 72nd, while Heritage is ranked 364th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Palm Bay found their leader in underclassman Aaron Mcgee, who scored 17 points along with five assists and five rebounds. Willie Burnett III was another key contributor, scoring 14 points.
Despite the loss, Heritage had strong showings from David Simpkins, who scored 16 points, and Conrad Bryant, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 15 rebounds. Bryant hasn't dropped below eight rebounds for five straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Nate Jennings, who scored five points along with seven rebounds and five steals.
The victory makes it two in a row for Palm Bay and bumps their season record up to 14-4. As for Heritage, they have not been sharp recently, as they've lost five of their last six matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-13 record this season.
Palm Bay will look to defend their home court on Friday against Viera at 7:00 p.m. Viera is looking to tack on another W to their three-game streak on the road. As for Heritage, they will square off against Satellite at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Satellite will be looking to extend their current four-game winning streak.
