Preview: St. Mary's Academy Wildcats vs. Jefferson Academy Jaguars
St. Mary's Academy is 2-8 against Jefferson Academy since February of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Monday. The St. Mary's Academy Wildcats will look to defend their home court against the Jefferson Academy Jaguars at 6:30 p.m. Hopefully St. Mary's Academy focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 23 on Friday.
Last Friday, St. Mary's Academy didn't have too much trouble with The Academy on the road as they won 50-33. The win was just what St. Mary's Academy needed coming off of a 47-24 defeat in their prior match.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead St. Mary's Academy to victory, but perhaps none more so than Emily Rodriguez, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 22 rebounds. Rodriguez hasn't dropped below two blocks for eight straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Isabel Hernandez, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Jefferson Academy ended up a good deal behind Peak to Peak on Saturday and lost 44-25. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Jefferson Academy in their matchups with Peak to Peak: they've now lost four in a row.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Elsa Nygren, who scored ten points along with six rebounds.
St. Mary's Academy's win bumped their record up to 9-7. As for Jefferson Academy, their defeat dropped their record down to 13-7.
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 46.8 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Jefferson Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 29.4 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
St. Mary's Academy was taken down by Jefferson Academy 52-23 in their previous matchup back in January of 2023. Thankfully for St. Mary's Academy, Allie Jo Kirkpatrick (who scored 15 points along with eight steals) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
