Recap: The Academy Wildcats vs. Manual Thunderbolts
The Academy Wildcats's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Monday after their fourth straight loss. They fell 76-64 to Manual. While losing is never fun, The Academy can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 258th, while Manual is ranked 57th).
Several Wildcats players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Trey Boychuk, who scored 15 points along with three steals. The matchup was Boychuk's fifth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Gavin Massler, who scored 18 points.
Leading Manual to victory were Marquell Marquez and Deshawn Fox. Marquez scored 22 points along with eight rebounds, while Fox dropped a double-double on 23 points and 13 rebounds. Those 13 rebounds set a new season-high mark for him. DeAmonte Maynard was another key contributor, scoring nine points along with eight rebounds and three steals.
The Academy bumped their record down to 3-6 with that defeat, which was their tenth straight on the road dating back to last season. As for Manual, the win makes it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 4-1.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. The Academy will be staying on the road on Thursday to face off against Colorado Academy at 7:00 p.m. on December 21st. Hopefully Colorado Academy focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 14 on Tuesday. Manual will have some time to savor their win since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on Far Northeast W at 1:00 p.m. on January 6, 2024.
