Basketball Game Preview: Westtown vs. Academy of the New Church Lions

Westtown will square off against the Academy of the New Church Lions at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Last Tuesday, everything came up roses for Westtown against Germantown Friends as the team secured an 86-53 victory. Westtown has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four games by 30 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, Academy of the New Church entered their tilt with Audenried on Wednesday with five consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with six. They walked away with a 65-56 win over Audenried. Given the Lions' advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 41st, while Audenried are ranked 251st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Academy of the New Church's win came from a few key players Westtown will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Marquis Newson, who posted ten points and seven rebounds. Another player making a difference was Bryce Rollerson, who went 5 for 8 en route to 11 points.

Academy of the New Church is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 11-5 record this season. As for Westtown, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 8-3.

Things could have been worse for Westtown, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 66-48 loss to Academy of the New Church when the teams last played back in February of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Academy of the New Church's Ryan Warren, who made all 8 shots he took to post 19 points and eight boards. Now that Westtown knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.