November 20, 2024
Leesburg High Girls Basketball Dominates Bishop Moore, Prepare for Wildwood Showdown
By Kyle Coppola
Leesburg High Girls Basketball Dominates Bishop Moore, Prepare for Wildwood Showdown
LEESBURG, Fla. — The Leesburg High School girls varsity basketball team delivered an impressive performance Tuesday night, defeating Bishop Moore 73-52 in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.
Senior Saige McCloud led the way for the Yellow Jackets with a dominant double-double, racking up 20 points and 14 rebounds. Ariyanna Hester was equally impressive, adding 19 points to the scoreboard. Alysia Smith chipped in 17 points, while Aniya Hester contributed 14, showcasing the team’s balanced offensive attack. That’s something Leesburg will be able to exploit teams with this season. The offensive firepower is immense.
(Alysia Smith had 17 points in her first game of the regular season. She is an exciting freshman. She has coaches in Lake County taking notes. Photo Credit – azaliasphotos.)
“It was an all-around team win,” Assistant Coach D’mani Nettles said. “Everyone contributed, and the energy was exactly where we needed it to be. But we know there’s a long season ahead, and we’ve got to stay focused.”
Leesburg’s defense was also a key factor, stifling Bishop Moore’s efforts and creating opportunities in transition. The Yellow Jackets’ strong rebounding and fast-paced play left little room for the Bishop Moore to create opportunities.
(Saige McCloud dropped 20 points in her first game of the year. She will be one of the top players to watch in Central Florida this season. Photo Credit – azaliasphotos.)
With the victory, Leesburg shifts its attention to Thursday’s matchup against Wildwood Middle High, set to tip off at 6 p.m. in Wildwood. Anytime these two teams get together it makes for must see basketball. This is a long running cross-town rivalry. No matter if it’s football, basketball, baseball anytime you have Leesburg going up against Wildwood it’s just a fun game to watch.
Photo Credit – azaliasphotos (Follow her on instagram.)
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
