Boys hoops: DP looking to bounce back

In the past two weeks, that often brutal slate has manifested itself in the form of four losses in the Panthers’ (4-4) past five games. On Saturday, in the headliner contest for Oviedo High School’s Hoops with a Heart Classic, DP fell to the host Lions, 62-45.

“We got off to a pretty good start, but, for whatever reason, we stopped defending in the second quarter and we gave their best player (Oviedo senior Matt Milon) a bunch of open looks,” Panthers coach Anthony Long said. “Oviedo played better than us.”

DP had trouble slowing Milon, a Boston College signee, and the dynamic forward finished with 21 points, while point guard Carlos Maffuz was on fire from beyond the arc in scoring 17 points for the Lions (8-1).

The Panthers were led by 13 points from senior forward Jonathan Laurent.

Although all of the losses for DP have come against elite competition, Long noted that his team — which has aspirations of competing for a state title in Class 8A this winter — should be embracing such contests.

“We have played really good teams — our four losses have been to really quality teams,” Long said. “But, these are the types of teams we’re going to have to beat if we want to make a playoff run.”

Dropping four of five can be tough for a group of players that are used to winning more than they lose, but Long expressed confidence in his seniors and leaders to guide the team through the rough patch.

“We’ve got good character kids so I’m not too worried about them falling apart — we’ve got good leaders,” Long said.

Lakers drop game to TFA

The Windermere Prep Lakers were outscored 19-10 in the third quarter of a rivalry contest against host The First Academy, leading to the Lakers’ first loss in two weeks.

Windermere Prep (6-3) fell to the Royals (9-2), 69-66.

Despite leading at halftime, the Lakers went cold shooting the ball in the second half. Windermere Prep tied the contest in the fourth quarter after going on an 11-2 run, but TFA pulled away after making some clutch free throws at the charity stripe.

The Lakers will return to action this weekend at The Kreul Classic in Coral Springs.