It may have taken overtime to finish the job, but the Vero Beach Indians ultimately got the result they hoped for on Wednesday. They skirted past Heritage 69-67. The win was just what Vero Beach needed coming off of a 75-48 loss in their prior game.
Leading Vero Beach to victory were Andre Ferguson and Jaylen Shelly. Ferguson scored 14 points along with nine rebounds and three blocks, while Shelly scored 17 points. The matchup was Shelly's fourth in a row with at least ten points. Will Holderman was another key contributor, scoring 11 points.
Several Panthers players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Demetres Samuel jr, who scored 18 points along with three steals. That's the first time this season that Samuel jr grabbed two or more steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Conrad Bryant, who scored 11 points along with nine rebounds and five steals.
Vero Beach pushed their record up to 2-2 with that victory, which was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 69.0 points per game. As for Heritage, they are on a three-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 1-4.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Vero Beach will face off against Astronaut at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Astronaut's favor is that they have posted big point totals every time they've taken the court this season. As for Heritage, they will head out on the road to face off against Timber Creek at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Timber Creek comes in still looking for their first win of the season.
