Basketball Game Preview: Fox Chapel Foxes vs. Shady Side Academy Bulldogs

Fox Chapel is 9-1 against Shady Side Academy since December of 2014 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The two teams will round out the year against one another at at 5:30 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Fox Chapel has four straight victories, Shady Side Academy has five straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

On Sunday, Fox Chapel needed a bit of extra time to put away Peters Township. They came out on top against the Indians by a score of 59-50.

Caden Kaiser continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, almost dropping a double-double on 21 points and nine boards. The match was his third in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Asher White, who posted ten points and six rebounds.

Fox Chapel smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in six consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Shady Side Academy might have been a little too into the holiday spirit, gifting South Allegheny an easy 65-43 win. While losing is never fun, the Bulldogs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 473rd, while the Gladiators are ranked 45th).

Fox Chapel pushed their record up to 7-1 with the victory, which was their fifth straight at home. As for Shady Side Academy, their loss dropped their record down to 2-6.

Fox Chapel came up short against Shady Side Academy in their previous matchup back in December of 2023, falling 63-55. Can Fox Chapel avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.