Basketball Recap: Cocoa Comes Up Short

On Friday, the Cocoa Tigers were beaten by the Mainland Buccaneers 72-44. While losing is never fun, the Tigers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 528th, while the Buccaneers are ranked 185th).

Despite the loss, Cocoa saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Tony Adderley dropped a double-double on 15 points and 11 boards. Those 11 boards set a new season-high mark for Adderley. Romeo Johnson was another key player, putting up seven points along with seven assists and five steals.

Leading Mainland to victory were Kade Manley and Canyon Powers. Manley went 8 of 12 from beyond the arc on his way to 26 points and three steals, while Powers went 7 of 12 on his way to 16 points in addition to seven rebounds and six assists. The game was Manley's sixth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Beegie Gordon, who posted six points along with six boards and five steals.

Cocoa's defeat dropped their record down to 3-7. As for Mainland, they have been performing well recently as they've won six of their last eight matches, which provided a nice bump to their 7-4 record this season.

Cocoa didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 65-51 victory against Innovation on the 28th. As for Mainland, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next game, a 74-60 loss against East River on the 28th.