Preview: Monsignor Pace Spartans vs. Mater Lakes Academy Bears
Monsignor Pace has enjoyed the comforts of home their last four games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will face off against the Mater Lakes Academy Bears at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Monsignor Pace will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Florida Rankings (they are ranked 311th, while Mater Lakes Academy is ranked 18th).
It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Monsignor Pace had no problem doing just that on Saturday. They snuck past the Tornadoes with a 63-59 victory. Having run the score up that high, both teams probably have some extra defensive drills coming up.
Monsignor Pace's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Jabari Dukes, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 15 rebounds. Jacob Trenchfield was another key contributor, scoring 15 points along with three steals.
Meanwhile, Mater Lakes Academy had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 44 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Saturday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Cardinal Gibbons and snuck past 53-50. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory Mater Lakes Academy has posted since January 17th.
Mater Lakes Academy found their leader in underclassman Tai Bell, who scored 19 points along with two steals. Another player making a difference was Bertran Walthour, who scored 12 points along with five rebounds.
Monsignor Pace's victory bumped their record up to 16-11. As for Mater Lakes Academy, they have been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 19-8 record this season.
Thursday's match will pit two of the most dominant forwards against one another: Dukes and Christian Reid. Dukes has been dynamite this season: he has averaged 11.4 points, 1.3 blocks, and 1.6 steals. For his part, Reid has averaged 11.6 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 1.2 steals.
Monsignor Pace was taken down by Mater Lakes Academy 75-44 when the teams last played back in February of 2022. That game was all but decided by halftime, at which point Monsignor Pace was down 49-21.
