Basketball Recap: Benedictine's Run of Eight Straight Victories Now Over

After flying high against St. Andrew's last Saturday, Benedictine came back down to earth. The Benedictine Cadets fell 57-50 to the Archbishop Ryan Raiders and Ragdolls on Friday. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as the Cadets came into the contest with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 28th in Georgia, while the Raiders and Ragdolls are ranked 87th in Pennsylvania).

When it comes to explaining why Benedictine lost, don't look at Caleb Jones. Despite the final result, he dropped a double-double on 22 points and ten boards. Jones has been hot for a while, having posted 15 or more points the last 34 times he's played. John Lilly was another key player, going 6 of 10 on his way to 12 points and seven rebounds.

Leading Archbishop Ryan to victory were Brandon Russell and Matt Johnson. Russell went 7 of 13 on his way to 21 points along with four blocks and three steals, while Johnson posted 14 points in addition to five rebounds and three steals. The dominant performance gave Johnson a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Semaj Stone, who put up seven points and three blocks.

Benedictine moved to 8-1 with that defeat, which also ended their eight-game winning streak. As for Archbishop Ryan, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 4-3.

Benedictine didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next matchup, a 60-47 victory against Charlotte Latin on the 28th. As for Archbishop Ryan, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next game, a 71-49 loss against Bishop Kenny on the 28th.