Central Valley Academy comes up short despite Deacon Judd's strong performance

By Team Reports Feb 7, 2024, 4:00pm

Recap: Central Valley Academy Thunder vs. Rome Free Academy Black Knights

After a string of 13 wins, the Central Valley Academy Thunder's good fortune finally ran out on Tuesday. They fell to Rome Free Academy 90-86. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game last Friday (60), Central Valley Academy still had to take the loss.

Despite the loss, Central Valley Academy still got an impressive performance from Deacon Judd, who shot 5-for-5 from deep and dropped a double-double on 42 points and 19 rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Judd has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Tom Jacquays, who scored 12 points along with six assists and six rebounds.

Even though they lost, Central Valley Academy were working as a unit and finished the game with 24 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Rome Free Academy only racked up 17 assists.

It was another big night for Uzziah Grimes, who scored 29 points along with eight rebounds and five steals for Rome Free Academy. Grimes hasn't dropped below 19 points for 14 straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Luke Hammon, who scored 15 points along with eight rebounds and three steals.

Central Valley Academy's loss ended a four-game streak of away wins and brought them to 15-2. As for Rome Free Academy, they have been performing well recently as they've won ten of their last 12 games, which provided a nice bump to their 14-4 record this season.

Central Valley Academy will head out on the road to challenge Notre Dame at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Central Valley Academy has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 1,177 points over their last 17 games. As for Rome Free Academy, they will be playing at home against Vernon-Verona-Sherrill at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Rome Free Academy is coming into the contest with seven straight wins at home, meaning Vernon-Verona-Sherrill will have to defend against a team hungry for a win.