Basketball Recap: Brandon Russell's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Archbishop Ryan over St. Joseph's Prep

Archbishop Ryan was the 49-47 winner over St. Joseph's Prep when they last played one another back in February of 2024, but their luck changed this time around. The Archbishop Ryan Raiders and Ragdolls took a 70-59 hit to the loss column at the hands of the St. Joseph's Prep Hawks on Monday. While losing is never fun, the Raiders and Ragdolls can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 71st, while the Hawks are ranked 20th).

Several Raiders and Ragdolls players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Brandon Russell, who posted 16 points. Russell has been hot recently, having also posted two or more steals the last four times he's played. Seth Gaye was another key player, putting up ten points along with four steals and three blocks.

Archbishop Ryan's defeat dropped their record down to 7-7. As for St. Joseph's Prep, the win (which was their sixth in a row) raised their record to 8-4.

Archbishop Ryan will look to defend their home court on Friday against West Catholic at 7:00 p.m. Archbishop Ryan is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 62.6 points per game this season. As for St. Joseph's Prep, they will venture away from home to take on Archbishop Carroll at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. The timing isn't great for Archbishop Carroll: they have been struggling with three straight losses at home, while St. Joseph's Prep has snatched up six consecutive wins on the road dating back to last season.