Basketball Game Preview: New Utrecht Utes vs. East New York Family Academy

The New Utrecht Utes and East New York Family Academy will compete for holiday cheer at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

It's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 75-36, which was the final score in New Utrecht's tilt against Grand Street Campus on Monday.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for East New York Family Academy, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Saturday. They blew past Lincoln 69-13 on Monday. East New York Family Academy has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won three matchups by 56 points or more this season.

New Utrecht better keep an eye on Arianna Mercado. She was instrumental in East New York Family Academy's win, dropping a double-double on 37 points and 15 steals. The contest was Mercado's third in a row with at least ten points. Janaya Henderson was another key player, going 5 for 8 on her way to 11 points in addition to seven rebounds and three steals.

New Utrecht's loss was their fourth straight at home dating back to last season, which dropped their record down to 2-4. As for East New York Family Academy, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 5-2 record this season.

New Utrecht was taken down by East New York Family Academy 85-42 when the teams last played back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Mercado, who went 7 of 11 from beyond the arc on her way to 37 points along with eight assists and six steals. Now that New Utrecht knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.