Basketball Preview: St. Mary's Academy Wildcats vs. Colorado Academy Mustangs
St. Mary's Academy is on a three-game streak of home wins, while the Mustangs are on a six-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The St. Mary's Academy Wildcats will take on the Colorado Academy Mustangs at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. St. Mary's Academy will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Colorado Rankings (they are ranked 149th, while the Mustangs are ranked 43rd).
St. Mary's Academy struggled with assists on Tuesday (the Pirates had 11 more) and sadly the final score reflected it. St. Mary's Academy had to suffer through a rough 56-26 loss at the hands of the Pirates. St. Mary's Academy has struggled against the Pirates recently, as their contest on Tuesday was their fourth consecutive lost matchup.
The losing side was boosted by Emily Rodriguez, who scored six points along with 12 rebounds and four steals. She hasn't dropped below two blocks for six straight games. Another player making a difference was Isabel Hernandez, who scored four points along with five rebounds.
Meanwhile, Colorado Academy stacked an 11th blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Thursday. They blew past Eagle Ridge Academy 66-17 on the road. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 38-7.
Colorado Academy's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Anna Johnson led the charge by scoring 17 points along with two steals. Johnson has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last four times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Naomi Wolff, who scored nine points along with six rebounds and three steals.
St. Mary's Academy's loss dropped their record down to 8-6. As for Colorado Academy, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 12 of their last 13 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 14-4 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: St. Mary's Academy have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 45.5 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Colorado Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 38.2 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
St. Mary's Academy was dealt a bruising 64-28 defeat at the hands of the Mustangs in their previous matchup back in February of 2023. Will St. Mary's Academy have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
