The St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders will head out to take on the Montverde Academy Eagles at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
St. Thomas Aquinas will head into Tuesday's game hoping to keep the good times rolling: they had to skate by with only a two-point margin when they last took the court, which might have inspired the 40-point drubbing they dealt Cardinal Gibbons on Tuesday. St. Thomas Aquinas breezed by Cardinal Gibbons to the tune of 61-21. The matchup marked the Raiders' most dominant win of the season so far.
Nyla Mcfadden
| 12/10/24 vs Cardinal Gibbons | 3 |
| 12/09/24 @ Somerset Academy - Canyons | 2 |
| 12/07/24 @ Miami Christian | 2 |
St. Thomas Aquinas' win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Nyla Mcfadden, who posted 14 points in addition to eight boards and three blocks. Mcfadden has been hot recently, having posted two or more blocks the last three times she's played. Another player making a difference was London Thomas, who had 13 points in addition to five assists and five boards.
Meanwhile, Montverde Academy put another one in the bag on Wednesday to keep their perfect season alive. They really took it to Dr. Phillips for the full four quarters, racking up a 71-43 victory. The contest was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Eagles had established a 26 point advantage.
St. Thomas Aquinas better focus on containing Aaliyah Crump and Saniyah Hall as the pair were huge in Montverde Academy's win. Crump posted 15 points along with eight assists and four steals, while Hall put up 20 points and five rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Amaia Jackson, who had 11 points and five rebounds.
St. Thomas Aquinas is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 5-3 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 57.4 points per game. As for Montverde Academy, their record is now 5-0.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: St. Thomas Aquinas has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 29.6 boards per game. However, it's not like Montverde Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 37.4 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
St. Thomas Aquinas came up short against Montverde Academy when the teams last played back in January, falling 55-43. Thankfully for St. Thomas Aquinas, Jaloni Cambridge (who went 8 of 14 on her way to 20 points in addition to six assists and five boards) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
