The Lake Howell Silver Hawks will square off against the Boone Braves at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Lake Howell knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past four contests -- so hopefully Boone likes a good challenge.
Even though Lake Howell has not done well against Central Florida Christian Academy recently (they were 0-3 in their previous three matchups), they didn't let the past get in their way on Wednesday. Lake Howell strolled past Central Florida Christian Academy with points to spare, taking the game 72-55. Given Lake Howell's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 120th, while Central Florida Christian Academy is ranked 396th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
The match pitted two dominant guards against one another in Janiel De los santos and Semaj Washington. De los santos had a great game and scored 14 points along with seven assists and five rebounds. Meanwhile, Washington was balling out in the loss, scoring 18 points along with three steals.
Meanwhile, Boone lost to Lake Brantley on the road by a decisive 51-35 margin on Wednesday. Boone has struggled against Lake Brantley recently, as their matchup on Wednesday was their sixth consecutive lost matchup.
Boone's loss came about despite a quality game from Cheo James, who scored 23 points along with seven rebounds and three steals. James continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Erik Boyer, who scored two points along with two steals.
Lake Howell has been performing well recently as they've won six of their last eight matches, which provided a nice bump to their 11-8 record this season. As for Boone, their loss dropped their record down to 10-9.
Friday's match is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Lake Howell have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 38.3% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Boone struggles in that department as they've made 45.8% of their threes per game this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Lake Howell came up short against Boone in their previous matchup back in December of 2023, falling 57-50. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of James, who scored 23 points. Now that Lake Howell knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
