Basketball Preview: John Paul II Catholic Saints vs. North Raleigh Christian Academy Knights
The John Paul II Catholic Saints just played yesterday, but they'll still head out to face the North Raleigh Christian Academy Knights at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. North Raleigh Christian Academy took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on John Paul II Catholic, who comes in off a win.
While John Paul II Catholic didn't have the best season last year (they finished 7-17), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They took down Lawrence Academy 56-41 on Thursday. With that victory, the Saints brought their scoring average up to 50.6 points per game.
Jamal Biggs continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, going 9 for 18 en route to 19 points. Gabe Lewis was another key player, scoring 11 points along with eight rebounds and five assists.
John Paul II Catholic was working as a unit and finished the game with 15 assists. That's the most assists they've posted since back in January.
Meanwhile, North Raleigh Christian Academy ended up a good deal behind Greensboro Day School on Tuesday and lost 54-38. While losing is never fun, the Knights can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 161st, while the Bengals are ranked seventh).
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Brennen Jefferson, who went 6 for 13 en route to 14 points plus two steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Cooper Herakovich, who scored six points in addition to two steals.
John Paul II Catholic pushed their record up to 4-1 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home dating back to last season. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 55.3 points per game. As for North Raleigh Christian Academy, their loss dropped their record down to 2-4.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: John Paul II Catholic has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 26 rebounds per game. However, it's not like North Raleigh Christian Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 24.3. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
John Paul II Catholic took a serious blow against North Raleigh Christian Academy in their previous meeting back in December of 2023, falling 81-52. Can John Paul II Catholic avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
