Basketball Game Preview: St. Mary's Academy Wildcats vs. Regis Groff Fusion

Two dominant forwards in Aleena Nauman and Alexandria Mims are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The St. Mary's Academy Wildcats will welcome the Regis Groff Fusion at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. The timing is sure in St. Mary's Academy's favor as the squad sits on five straight wins at home while Regis Groff has been banged up by three consecutive losses on the road.

St. Mary's Academy is headed into the game after thoroughly thrashing Stargate School: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that St. Mary's Academy blew Stargate School out of the water with a 50-19 final score. The Wildcats have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six matchups by 21 points or more this season.

Aleena Nauman

Steals

02/06/25 vs Stargate School	6
02/01/25 vs Bishop Machebeuf	2
01/29/25 vs Prospect Ridge Academy	12
01/27/25 vs DSST: Cedar	5
01/23/25 @ Forge Christian	2
+ 8 more games

Chanel Cooper and Nauman were among the main playmakers for St. Mary's Academy as the former posted eight points and six steals and the latter had nine points and six steals. Nauman is crushing it when it comes to steals: she's grabbed at least two every time she's taken the court this season. Addie Wester was another key player, putting up five points.

St. Mary's Academy was working as a unit and finished the game with ten assists. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 4.9 assists per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 contests they've averaged 12.2.

Meanwhile, Regis Groff came up short against Thomas Jefferson on Friday and fell 39-29. While the Fusion didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Spartans 11-5 in the first quarter.

St. Mary's Academy is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a massive bump to their 9-7 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 25.9 points over those games. As for Regis Groff, they now have a losing record at 8-9.