The Lake Wales Highlanders pushed their score all the way to 55 on Thursday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a hard 71-55 fall against Martin County. Lake Wales was given a dose of their own medicine in this game as the Tigers apparently hadn't forgotten their defeat the last time these teams played back in January of 2023.
Several Highlanders players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Jeremy Willingham, who scored 13 points. Another player making a difference was Sebastian Perez, who scored six points along with seven rebounds.
Martin County's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Brandon Brazell led the charge by dropping a double-double on ten points and 12 rebounds. Ari Smith was another key contributor, scoring 21 points.
Lake Wales' defeat was their fourth straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 9-15. As for Martin County, their win bumped their record up to 8-16.
Lake Wales will face off against the Knights at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. Ocoee presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than the Highlanders in Florida (the Knights are ranked 80th, while the Highlanders are ranked 493rd). As for Martin County, they will look to defend their home court on Tuesday against the Sharks at 6:00 p.m. Hopefully Sebastian River focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 18 last Wednesday.
