Basketball Recap: American Comes Up Short

American has been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. They took a 50-40 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Moreau Catholic Mariners on Thursday. The Eagles were probably out for revenge after losing 57-35 to them when the teams met back in February of 2024, then they'll just have to keep looking.

Despite the loss, American saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Shirina Shi went 9 for 19 en route to 24 points and five rebounds. That was a full 60% of American's points, marking the seventh time in a row she's posted more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Anika Batra, who scored eight points and five boards.

Moreau Catholic's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Ava Bowens led the charge by dropping a double-double on 16 points and 13 rebounds. Those 16 points gave Bowens a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Mahlaysia Atkins, who put up eight points in addition to 15 boards and three blocks.

American's defeat dropped their record down to 12-4. As for Moreau Catholic, the victory was the fourth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 10-7.

American has already played their next game, a 60-27 win against Silver Creek on the 18th. As for Moreau Catholic, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next matchup, a 58-44 victory against Ygnacio Valley on the 20th.