The Lakeland Royals suited up again for their second home game of the season. The Royals were up against the Brevard Bobcats from Melbourne, Fl.
The Royals got off to a quick start. Just minutes into the game the Royals had jumped out to a 12 point lead scoring the first 12 points of the game while holding the Bobcats scoreless with very tight defense. The Bobcats were very resilient and managed to cut into the lead over the next few minutes and half way through the first quarter the Bobcats briefly took the lead. However, the Lakeland Royals put it into another gear and retook the lead and never relinquished it for the rest of the game. The Royals outscored the Bobcats and built a 28 to 15 lead by the end of the first quarter.
They Royals showed great defense and boxed out well on both ends of the court out rebounding the Bobcats throughout the entire game lead by Cyrus Barnes with 10 rebounds and Ivan Smith with 32pts, 7 assist and 6 rebounds and 5 from three point land. .
The Royals also put on a great show raining 3s throughout the game. They also did a great job with fast break points and some highlight worthy dunks.
At half time the Royals had built a commanding lead of 62 to 33 and built on that lead throughout the third quarter with a 38 point quarter to lead 100 to 50.
The Bobcats were unwilling to just pack it in and actually outscored the Royals in the fourth quarter 34 to 31. The final score was 131 to 84. They Royals remain undefeated this season and preseason.
The pictures were taken by Coastal Sports
There were some very good things that happened during the game that showed just how good the Royals can be.
Speaking with Owner Amy Rhodes I asked how she felt with this team at this point in the season. She said “I feel very proud of what this team has accomplished so far. The coach and team are working very hard to be the best. For us to be undefeated and accomplish what we have throughout the preseason and season is just more than I could have imagined. I am excited to see what the rest of the season holds”
I asked Coach David Thornton what he saw that was impressed him about today’s game and what he thought the Royals needed to work on as they prepared for the rest of the season. “This is only the beginning and I believe the best is yet to come as the players get to know each other better. They played, overall, great team basketball with help-side defense and solid shooting. We are going to be working on communicating better when players sub into the game and stopping the turnovers. But all of that is fixable.”
The next game for the Royals is against the Palm Beach Titans on May 8th and the next home game for the Royals will be Saturday May 21 against the Kissimmee Pride.