Basketball Recap: Joan Orta and Makauri Massey Secure Win for Boone

Braves

Previous 3 Games

01/23/25 @ DeLand	55-53
01/21/25 @ Lake Buena Vista	70-52
01/17/25 @ Innovation	60-26

Boone entered their tilt with DeLand on Thursday with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They skirted past the DeLand Bulldogs 55-53. For the Braves, this counts as revenge for the 41-36 victory the Bulldogs walked away with the last time they faced one another back in December of 2017.

Leading Boone to victory were Makauri Massey and Joan Orta. Massey went 7 for 17 on his way to 18 points, while Orta dropped a double-double on 16 points and 11 boards. Massey has been hot recently, having also posted two or more steals the last three times he's played. Erik Boyer was another key player, putting up seven points.

Boone was working as a unit and finished the game with 14 assists. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 5.7 assists per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 matchups they've averaged 10.7.

Loss or not, DeLand got some senior leadership from Robert Davis and Justin Suarez. Davis went 6 of 8 from beyond the arc en route to 18 points and seven rebounds, while Suarez posted 21 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Davis has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Daniel Rodriguez, who put up six points.

Boone's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 10-11. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 61.7 points per game. As for DeLand, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost three of their last four contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 10-8 record this season.

Boone wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next game, a 70-66 defeat against Olympia on the 24th. As for DeLand, they will square off against Flagler Palm Coast at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. DeLand is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 62.1 points per game this season.