Basketball Game Preview: Notre Dame Academy Pandas vs. Sacred Heart Valkyries

Notre Dame Academy is 1-6 against Sacred Heart since January of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Notre Dame Academy Pandas will square off against the Sacred Heart Valkyries at 7:00 p.m.

Notre Dame Academy is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Kentucky's top teams: Assumption, who was ranked tenth at the time (Notre Dame Academy was ranked eighth). Notre Dame Academy fell to Assumption 57-53. The Pandas have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Meanwhile, Sacred Heart really took it to Whitefield Academy for the full four quarters, racking up a 61-32 win. The Valkyries have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 16 matches by 20 points or more this season.

Sacred Heart's win came from a few key players Notre Dame Academy will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was ZaKiyah Johnson, who went 7-for-14 to rack up 17 points and five assists. She has been hot for a while, having posted 15 or more points the last 25 times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Bri Wilkins, who went 5-for-7 en route to 14 points and three steals.

Sacred Heart was working as a unit and finished the game with 21 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Whitefield Academy only racked up nine assists.

Sacred Heart's victory was their 20th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 24-3. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 40.5 points. As for Notre Dame Academy, their loss dropped their record down to 18-6.

Notre Dame Academy might still be hurting after the 65-42 defeat they got from Sacred Heart when the teams last played back in February of 2022. Can Notre Dame Academy avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.