Basketball Game Preview: West Philadelphia Speedboys vs. Academy at Palumbo Griffin

The West Philadelphia Speedboys will head out to challenge the Academy at Palumbo Griffin at 3:15 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

West Philadelphia can't be too worried about heading out to take on Academy at Palumbo: they just beat Frankford at home, who had been dominant on their own court up to that point. West Philadelphia strolled past Frankford with points to spare on Tuesday, taking the game 59-40. West Philadelphia's win was all the more impressive since the Pioneers were averaging only 27.67 points allowed on the season.

Donajah Tindle

Points (Career)

02/11/25 @ Frankford	32
12/16/24 vs Science Leadership Academy at Beeber	22
12/04/24 @ Tacony Academy Charter	22
01/04/25 vs Abington Friends	20
12/17/24 @ Penn Wood	18

Donajah Tindle was a one-woman wrecking crew for West Philadelphia as she went 7 of 12 from beyond the arc on her way to 32 points. The dominant performance gave Tindle a new career-high in points. Another player making a difference was Badji Tall, who went 7 for 9 en route to 14 points and five boards.

Meanwhile, Academy at Palumbo posted their biggest victory since January 3rd on Tuesday. Everything went their way against Simon Gratz as Academy at Palumbo made off with a 52-28 win. Given the Griffin's advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 135th, while the Bulldogs are ranked 309th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

West Philadelphia is on a roll lately: they've won 11 of their last 13 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 18-6 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 29.6 points over those games. As for Academy at Palumbo, their victory bumped their record up to 12-5.

West Philadelphia was taken down by Academy at Palumbo 60-29 in their previous meeting back in February of 2024. That contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point West Philadelphia was down 44-15.