St. John Paul II Catholic falls despite strong effort from Layne Dickens

By Team Reports Feb 12, 2024, 8:23pm

Recap: St. John Paul II Catholic Lions vs. Arizona Lutheran Academy Coyotes

After soaring to 58 points the game before, the St. John Paul II Catholic Lions were a bit more limited in their matchup on Tuesday. They were beaten by Arizona Lutheran Academy 82-17. St. John Paul II Catholic has not had much luck with Arizona Lutheran Academy recently, as the team's come up short the last eight times they've met.

When it comes to explaining why St. John Paul II Catholic lost, one person who can't be blamed is Layne Dickens. Despite the final result, he scored six points along with four steals.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, St. John Paul II Catholic struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only three offensive rebounds. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Arizona Lutheran Academy pulled down 14 offensive rebounds.

Arizona Lutheran Academy was led to victory by Stephan Iron shell and Noah Draper. Iron shell scored 18 points along with two steals, while Draper scored 16 points along with six rebounds and two steals. Iron shell has been hot recently, having posted 17 or more points the last six times he's played. Another player making a difference was Luis Guerrero, who scored 12 points.

St. John Paul II Catholic has not been sharp recently as the team has lost 12 of their last 15 matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 9-19 record this season. As for Arizona Lutheran Academy, the win was the sixth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 25-3.

St. John Paul II Catholic does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Arizona Lutheran Academy, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Round Valley at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Arizona Lutheran Academy has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 1,604 points over their last 21 games.