Basketball Game Preview: American Heritage Patriots vs. Judge Memorial Catholic Bulldogs

Two dominant guards in Mana Winitana and JJ Apathjang are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The American Heritage Patriots will welcome the Judge Memorial Catholic Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. American Heritage knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past nine matches -- so hopefully Judge Memorial Catholic likes a good challenge.

On Wednesday, American Heritage blew past Summit Academy, posting an 83-51 victory. The Patriots have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight games by 26 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Judge Memorial Catholic, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Tuesday. They blew past Providence Hall 71-42 on Wednesday. With the Bulldogs ahead 32-12 at the half, the contest was all but over already.

American Heritage better keep an eye on Majak Deng. He was instrumental in Judge Memorial Catholic's win, putting up 34 points. Those 34 points gave Deng a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Longar Alor, who posted ten points.

Judge Memorial Catholic is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 14-10 record this season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 45.8 points. As for American Heritage, they pushed their record up to 13-9 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home.

American Heritage strolled past Judge Memorial Catholic when the teams last played back in January by a score of 75-60. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Apathjang, who went 13 of 22 on his way to 33 points and four steals. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will American Heritage still be able to contain Apathjang? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.