In what's become a running theme this season, the Clearwater Central Catholic Marauders gave their fans yet another huge victory on Thursday. They put the hurt on Northside Christian with a sharp 56-33 win. Given Clearwater Central Catholic's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 105th, while Northside Christian is ranked 325th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Clearwater Central Catholic got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Taylor Bedinghaus out in front who dropped a double-double on 19 points and ten rebounds. Bedinghaus' trending in the right direction, as she's improved his point production for four games straight. Another player making a difference was Emme Dalhoff, who scored nine points along with 11 assists and eight rebounds.
Northside Christian's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Lilyana Scull, who scored eight points. Ava Somers was another key contributor, scoring six points.
The win makes it two in a row for Clearwater Central Catholic and bumps their season record up to 12-2. As for Northside Christian, their defeat ended a six-game streak of away wins and brought them to 5-3.
Clearwater Central Catholic will face off against Largo at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Hopefully Largo focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 12 on Thursday. Northside Christian won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against Hernando Christian Academy at 6:30 p.m. on January 12th.
