The Bartram Trail Bears will face off against the Nease Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Bartram Trail is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 51.5 points per game this season.
Bartram Trail heads in on the heels of a playoff match on Saturday. They received a blow as they fell 52-37 to Tocoi Creek. The Bears have struggled against the Toros recently, as the game was their third consecutive lost matchup.
Miranda Campos
| 02/08/25 vs Tocoi Creek | 16 |
| 01/24/25 @ Nease | 13 |
| 02/06/25 vs Forest | 12 |
| 01/13/25 vs Ponte Vedra | 11 |
| 01/21/25 vs Palatka | 10 |
Bartram Trail's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Miranda Campos, who dropped a double-double with 13 points and 16 rebounds, and Esabella Brenneman, who posted ten points and three steals. The dominant performance gave Campos a new career-high in boards. London Jackson also deserves some recognition as she posted her first block of the season.
Meanwhile, Nease strolled past Mandarin with points to spare on Thursday, taking the game 55-37. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 102nd, while the Mustangs are ranked 226th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Nease's win came from a few key players Bartram Trail will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Abigail Robinson, who went 5 for 10 on her way to 12 points and eight rebounds. She has been hot recently, having also posted two or more steals the last four times she's played. Another player making a difference was McKenna Owens, who had 12 points in addition to five boards and three steals.
Nease was working as a unit and finished the game with 12 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Mandarin only posted six assists.
Bartram Trail's defeat dropped their record down to 16-8. As for Nease, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a massive bump to their 13-12 record this season.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Bartram Trail has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 26.1 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Nease struggles in that department as they've been averaging 28.7 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Bartram Trail came up short against Nease in their previous matchup two weeks ago, falling 31-24. Can Bartram Trail avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
