Basketball Recap: Ryle Takes Loss Despite Strong Performances from Jayden (Jay) Mcclain and Jaelyn Jones

After flying high against Conner last Tuesday, Ryle came back down to earth. The Ryle Raiders took a hard 58-39 fall against the Cooper Jaguars on Thursday. Unfortunately, that's the second time they've come up short against the Jaguars this season, as they also lost their prior matchup 56-51 back in January.

Jayden (Jay) Mcclain

Blocked Shots

02/27/25 vs Cooper	6
02/25/25 vs Conner	5
02/20/25 vs Bishop Brossart	6
02/15/25 @ North Laurel	6
02/13/25 vs Franklin County	6
+ 15 more games

Ryle's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Jaelyn Jones, who shot 42% from the field en route to 17 points and seven rebounds, and Jayden (Jay) Mcclain, who dropped a double-double with ten points and 11 boards. (Jay) Mcclain is also on a roll when it comes to blocks, as she's now posted two or more in each of the last 20 games she's played.

Ryle has traveled a rocky road recently having lost 11 of their last 13 matchups. That's put a noticeable dent in their 9-22 record this season. The victory made it two in a row for Cooper and bumps their season record up to 22-5.

Coming up, Ryle will be taking part in a tournament against Highlands at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. Ryle has given up an average of 53.7 points per game this season, so hopefully the team got some defensive drills in this week. As for Cooper, they will host Holy Cross at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. One thing working in Cooper's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last six games.