Basketball Recap: Patrick Riffel Leads a Balanced Attack to Beat Ville De Marie Academy

There's no place like home for Thunderbird Adventist Academy, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Thursday. They snuck past Ville de Marie Academy with a 49-44 win on Tuesday. This was a revenge game for Thunderbird Adventist Academy: when they faced off against Ville de Marie Academy back in December of 2024, they had to take a 41-39 loss.

Thunderbird Adventist Academy's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Patrick Riffel, who posted 15 points and four steals. Another player making a difference was Aziel Perez, who earned eight points and seven steals.

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Previous 1 Games

01/28/25 - Home

49-44 W

Thunderbird Adventist Academy smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in three consecutive matchups.

When it comes to explaining why Ville de Marie Academy lost, don't look at Daniel Dwyer. Despite the final result, he scored 31 points along with six steals and five boards. That was a full 70.5% of Ville de Marie Academy's points, marking the sixth time in a row he's put up more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Luke Baillargeon, who had eight points in addition to ten rebounds and three blocks.

Thunderbird Adventist Academy has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 6-2 record this season. As for Ville de Marie Academy, their defeat was their first in the region, dropping their region record down to 3-1 and their overall record down to 11-3.

Thunderbird Adventist Academy wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next game, a 48-38 victory against Paradise Valley Christian Prep on the 29th. Ville de Marie Academy has also already played their next match (against Wickenburg Christian Academy), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing.