On Thursday, the New Year welcomed Lakewood Ranch with a 77-49 whooping from Palmetto. While losing is never fun, Lakewood Ranch can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 393rd, while Palmetto is ranked 147th).
Lakewood Ranch's loss came despite strong showings from Thomas Huggins and David Young. Huggins scored 13 points along with seven rebounds, while Young scored 12 points along with seven rebounds. The match was Young's fifth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Isaiah Allen, who scored five points along with three steals.
Palmetto's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Joshua Lipson, who scored 17 points along with five assists and five steals. Those five assists set a new season-high mark for him. Santiago Henriquez was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on 23 points and ten rebounds.
Lakewood Ranch has not been sharp recently, as they've lost six of their last seven matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-7 record this season. As for Palmetto, the win got them back to even at 7-7.
Lakewood Ranch won't have much time to rest: their next matchup is against Estero at 10:40 a.m. on January 5th. Hopefully Estero focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up seven on Thursday. Palmetto won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Cypress Lake at 2:00 p.m. on January 5th. Hopefully Cypress Lake focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up seven on Thursday.
