Basketball Recap: School Without Walls Takes Down Ballou in a Playoff Battle

Penguins

Margin (Wins)

01/10/25 vs Phelps Architecture, Construction & Engineering	54
12/02/24 @ Washington Latin Public Charter School	50
01/27/25 @ Cardozo	47
01/24/25 vs Bard	47
12/09/24 @ MacArthur	46

It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but School Without Walls had no problem doing just that on Tuesday. They put the hurt on the Ballou Knights with a sharp 49-29 victory. The Penguins have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 12 matches by 20 points or more this season.

School Without Walls found their leader in freshman Ellie Olesh, who dropped a triple-double with 11 points, 11 rebounds, and ten blocks. Those ten blocks gave Olesh a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Liliana Dietz, who went 6-for-14 on her way to 14 points along with seven boards and three steals.

School Without Walls was working as a unit and finished the game with 19 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.

School Without Walls' win was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 17-5. Those victories came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 23.0 points over those games. As for Ballou, they moved to 8-11 with that loss, which also ended their three-game winning streak.

Looking ahead, School Without Walls will face off against Eastern at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday. School Without Walls' defense has only allowed 27.1 points per game this season, so Eastern's offense will have their work cut out for them. Ballou does not have any more games scheduled as of now.