Preview: Cardinal Mooney Cougars vs. Braden River Pirates
After five games on the road, Cardinal Mooney is heading back home. They will take on the Braden River Pirates at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Cardinal Mooney knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past five matches -- so hopefully Braden River likes a good challenge.
Even though Cardinal Mooney has not done well against Bradenton Christian recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. Cardinal Mooney managed a 61-55 win over Bradenton Christian. Having run the score up that high, both teams probably have some extra defensive drills coming up.
Cardinal Mooney got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Connor Heald out in front who scored 23 points along with six assists. Heald is on a roll when it comes to points, as he's now scored 15 or more in the last six games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Kevin O'donoghue, who scored 23 points.
Meanwhile, Braden River came tearing into Tuesday's matchup with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 19.7 points) and they left with even more momentum. They enjoyed a cozy 57-42 victory over Southeast. Given Braden River's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 116th, while Southeast is ranked 369th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Cardinal Mooney's victory was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 13-7. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.2 points per game. As for Braden River, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 14-6 record this season.
Cardinal Mooney strolled past Braden River in their previous meeting back in January of 2023 by a score of 61-44. Will Cardinal Mooney repeat their success, or does Braden River have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
