Basketball Recap: Virginia Academy Takes a Loss

Virginia Academy suffered their biggest loss since December 16, 2023 on Saturday. They had to suffer through a 93-57 loss at the hands of the Friendship Tech Prep Academy Titans. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game last Thursday (55), the Patriots still had to take the loss.

Several Patriots players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Matthew McLaurin, who posted 16 points and six rebounds. Another player making a difference was Mike Smith, who earned 16 points.

Friendship Tech Prep Academy's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Malik Shackleford led the charge by going 10 of 21 on his way to 26 points along with six boards and five assists. The dominant performance gave Shackleford a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Daniel Bumpass, who went 7 of 15 on his way to 17 points in addition to eight boards and six assists.

This is the second loss in a row for Virginia Academy and nudges their season record down to 8-6. As for Friendship Tech Prep Academy, the win was the seventh in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 7-1.

Virginia Academy will look to defend their home court on Tuesday against New Hope Academy National at 7:00 p.m. One thing working in Virginia Academy's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last seven matchups. As for Friendship Tech Prep Academy, they will head out to challenge Parkside at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday.