It was a good run, but the Palmetto Panthers unfortunately witnessed the end of their five-game winning streak on Saturday. They fell just short of Taravella by a score of 74-71. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
When it comes to explaining why Palmetto lost, one person who can't be blamed is Santiago Henriquez. Despite the final result, he scored 34 points along with eight rebounds and seven assists. That was a full 47.9% of Palmetto's points, marking the third time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Samfree Sarante, who scored 20 points along with nine rebounds and two steals.
Leading Taravella to victory were Jordan Arriaga and Camden Fearon. Arriaga scored 19 points along with seven rebounds, while Fearon dropped a double-double on 17 points and ten assists. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Arriaga has scored all season. Andres Demoya was another key contributor, scoring nine points along with nine rebounds and two blocks.
Palmetto's loss dropped their record down to 13-9. As for Taravella, their victory bumped their record up to 12-5.
Palmetto will head out on the road to challenge Hialeah at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Hialeah will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Florida Rankings (they are ranked 322nd, while Palmetto is ranked 115th). As for Taravella, they will be playing in front of their home fans against McArthur at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
