Preview: Lourdes Academy vs. Southridge Spartans
Lourdes Academy is 8-2 against Southridge since January of 2018, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. Lourdes Academy's road trip will continue as they head out to face the Southridge Spartans at 7:00 p.m. on February 9th. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
With a playoff game on the line, Lourdes Academy rose to the challenge on Wednesday. They blew past the Lightning 60-28 on the road. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 36-10.
Lourdes Academy got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Sophie Llevat out in front who scored 16 points along with six steals and five assists. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Llevat has scored all season. Luciana Picasso was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on 12 points and ten rebounds.
Meanwhile, Southridge had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 18 points), and they went ahead and made it four on Wednesday. They took their matchup at home with ease, bagging a 68-6 victory over Mater Academy Charter. That 62 point margin sets a new team best for Southridge this season.
It was another big night for Dianka Hardisson, who scored 24 points along with eight assists. She is on a roll when it comes to points, as she's now scored 18 or more in the last three games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Shanaii Gamble, who scored 13 points along with five steals.
Lourdes Academy has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matches, which somehow isn't as good as their 16-5 record this season. As for Southridge, they pushed their record up to 18-6 with that victory, which was their third straight at home.
Lourdes Academy took a serious blow against Southridge when the teams last played back in January, falling 46-14. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Southridge's Unique Horton, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 12 rebounds. Now that Lourdes Academy knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
