Basketball Game Preview: Salt Lake Academy Griffins vs. Merit Preparatory Academy Knights

Two dominant forwards in Braylon Brock and Cruz Steinman are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Salt Lake Academy Griffins will welcome the Merit Preparatory Academy Knights at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Salt Lake Academy is coming into the game on a five-game losing streak.

Last Friday, Salt Lake Academy ended up a good deal behind Intermountain Christian and lost 61-44.

Harper Wilson

Rebounds

02/07/25 @ Intermountain Christian	14
02/04/25 vs Vanguard Academy	12
01/28/25 vs Utah Military Academy - Hill Field	8

The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Harper Wilson, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 14 rebounds. He is on a roll when it comes to boards, as he's now pulled down eight or more in the last three games he's played. Tyson Harris was another key player, going 6 for 13 en route to 14 points along with five rebounds and three steals.

Meanwhile, you're bound to get a positive result if you outscore your opponent every quarter, and that's exactly how it played out for Merit Preparatory Academy on Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that they blew Freedom Prep Academy out of the water with a 72-44 final score. The Knights have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 12 contests by 26 points or more this season.

Merit Preparatory Academy has been performing well recently as they've won 12 of their last 15 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 15-7 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 74.0 points over those games. As for Salt Lake Academy, their loss dropped their record down to 6-9.

Salt Lake Academy was taken down by Merit Preparatory Academy 71-44 in their previous matchup back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Merit Preparatory Academy's Michigan Draper, who went 6 of 12 to rack up 13 points in addition to seven assists and seven steals. Now that Salt Lake Academy knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.