LANTANA – After both teams took surprising losses last week, this was a matchup everyone was looking to see.
Lake Worth lost a nail-biter to Atlantic, which turned out to be its first lost of the season. Santaluces suffered its third loss last week to a surprisingly scrappy Spanish River team.
The Trojans (14-1), who were ranked No. 19 in the state prior to tonight’s matchup, visited the Chiefs (12-4) in a district showdown.
Before tip-off the arena was rocking as cheerleaders and fans from both sides were hyping their squads up.
The game started out with both teams playing sound defense on each other. The teams were tied 9-all at the end of the first quarter.
The cap would come off in the second quarter as both teams would find their shot. With under a minute left in the first half, the crowd would ignite after a huge block by Santaluces senior forward Justin Nichelson on a Lake Worth player.
Lake Worth would lead at halftime 26-22 despite Santaluces having the momentum at that point.
Senior guard Marques Spann led Lake Worth with eight points at halftime and Santaluces senior center Marcus Bentley led with seven points.
Things would heat up in the third quarter as both teams seemed to feel the pressure of trying to make something happen. They would trade baskets early on, but things would turn in Lake Worth’s favor as the scoreboard read 35-29 at the end of the third quarter.
Lake Worth would go on a 10-2 run in the fourth quarter, with the momentum swinging in Its favor after a huge three-point shot by senior guard Tim Taylor. Lake Worth led 50-35 with four minutes left in the game.
Lake Worth junior guard Avery Brooks would make a slam dunk with 2:40 left in the the game, which seemed to take the life out of the Santaluces squad.
As the game would come to a close the Lake Worth fans would cheer loud and claim an early victory by screaming, “Lake Worth!”
The Santaluces squad would fight until the end, but the Lake Worth squad would continue to surge in the fourth quarter and win 62-43.
Leading scorers for each team:
Lake Worth: Jay Medor with 14 points
Santaluces: Justin Nichelson with 9 points
