Basketball Game Preview: St. Joseph Wildcats vs. St. Augustine Prep Hermits

St. Joseph is 2-7 against St. Augustine Prep since February of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The St. Joseph Wildcats will head out on the road to square off against the St. Augustine Prep Hermits at 6:00 p.m. St. Joseph is coming into the game hot, having won their last seven games.

Last Tuesday, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, St. Joseph beat Vineland 54-50.

Meanwhile, St. Augustine Prep didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Mainland Regional on Tuesday, but they still walked away with a 56-51 win. Given the Hermits' advantage in MaxPreps' New Jersey basketball rankings (they are ranked 53rd, while the Mustangs are ranked 334th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

St. Augustine Prep has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 5-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.2 points per game. As for St. Joseph, they pushed their record up to 8-1 with the victory, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season.

St. Joseph came up short against St. Augustine Prep in their previous meeting back in January of 2024, falling 55-47. Can St. Joseph avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.