The Venice Indians's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their sixth straight loss. They fell 68-59 to North Port. While losing is never fun, Venice can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 393rd, while North Port is ranked 177th).
Several Indians players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Griffin Moricz, who scored 17 points along with eight rebounds and three steals. Another player making a difference was Marcel Fil, who scored 13 points along with seven rebounds.
Elijah Lubsey continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines for North Port, dropping a double-double on 31 points and 18 rebounds. Lubsey is on a roll when it comes to points, as he's now scored 20 or more in the last four games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Brennen Ingle, who scored nine points along with six rebounds and two steals.
Venice has traveled a rocky road recently having lost nine of their last ten games, which put a noticeable dent in their 9-15 record this season. As for North Port, the victory makes it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 16-8.
Venice will take on Lehigh at TBD on Tuesday. Lehigh is coming into the matchup with five straight victories on the road, so Venice is out to stop a team with plenty of momentum. As for North Port, they will take on Riverview Sarasota at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. One thing working in North Port's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last four matches.
