Preview: James Irwin Jaguars vs. The Vanguard School Coursers
James Irwin is 0-8 against The Vanguard School since January of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Saturday. The James Irwin Jaguars will head out on the road to take on The Vanguard School Coursers at 7:00 p.m. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: James Irwin has struggled recently with three losses in a row, while The Vanguard School will arrive with six straight victories.
James Irwin pushed their score all the way to 63 on Thursday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell 72-63 to Buena Vista. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for James Irwin in their matchups with Buena Vista: they've now lost four in a row.
The losing side was boosted by Malik Willis, who scored 20 points along with six rebounds and five assists. He is trending in the right direction, as he's improved his point production for three games straight. Another player making a difference was Matthew Lebron, who scored 15 points along with two steals.
Meanwhile, The Vanguard School put the finishing touches on their 11th blowout victory of the season on Thursday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Fountain Valley 80-51 on the road. Given The Vanguard School's advantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 40th, while Fountain Valley is ranked 194th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
James Irwin's defeat dropped their record down to 13-5. As for The Vanguard School, they pushed their record up to 15-1 with that win, which was their seventh straight on the road.
James Irwin suffered a grim 83-58 defeat to The Vanguard School in their previous matchup back in February of 2023. Can James Irwin avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
