Preview: St. Johns Country Day Spartans vs. University Christian Christians
St. Johns Country Day is 0-3 against University Christian since November of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The St. Johns Country Day Spartans will head out on the road to challenge the University Christian Christians at 7:00 p.m. St. Johns Country Day is coming into the match hot, having won their last 14 games.
It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but St. Johns Country Day had no problem doing just that on Tuesday. They were the clear victor by a 68-45 margin over the Eagles. St. Johns Country Day has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 16 matchups by 20 points or more this season.
St. Johns Country Day found their leader in underclassman Elliot Graham, who went 6 for 7 from beyond the arc en route to 20 points and 2 assists. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Graham has scored all season. Grayson Moody was another key contributor, scoring 12 points along with five assists and five rebounds.
Meanwhile, University Christian was fully in charge on Tuesday, breezing past Florida School for the Deaf & Blind 95-21 at home. Given University Christian's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 166th, while Florida School for the Deaf & Blind is ranked 797th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Henry Arthur had a dynamite game for University Christian, scoring 16 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Augustine Ayelyine, who scored 12 points.
St. Johns Country Day's victory was their eighth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 21-3. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 75.8 points per game. As for University Christian, they are on a roll lately: they've won 11 of their last 13 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 14-10 record this season.
Keep an eye on the arc in Thursday's match: St. Johns Country Day have been dynamite from deep this season, having nailed 40.3% of their threes per game. It's a different story for University Christian, though, as they've only made 18% of their threes this season. Given St. Johns Country Day's sizable advantage in that area, University Christian will need to find a way to close that gap.
St. Johns Country Day took a serious blow against University Christian in their previous meeting back in February of 2016, falling 84-43. Can St. Johns Country Day avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
