Basketball Recap: Madden Gilliatt's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Nansemond-Suffolk Academy over Peninsula Catholic

Nansemond-Suffolk Academy lost against Peninsula Catholic back in January of 2024 and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Thursday. The Nansemond-Suffolk Academy Saints fell 67-55 to the Peninsula Catholic Knights. While losing is never fun, the Saints can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Virginia basketball rankings (they are ranked 181st, while the Knights are ranked 28th).

Nansemond-Suffolk Academy lost despite a true team effort on offense. The best among them was Madden Gilliatt, who dropped a double-double with 19 points and ten boards. That was a full 34.5% of Nansemond-Suffolk Academy's points, marking the fourth time in a row he's posted more than a third of the team's points. KJ Pidgeon was another key player, going 5-for-7 en route to 13 points and five rebounds.

Peninsula Catholic's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Justin Hunter led the charge by putting up 18 points. Hunter continues to improve, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Jaylen Wynn, who had 16 points.

This is the second loss in a row for Nansemond-Suffolk Academy and nudges their season record down to 11-9. As for Peninsula Catholic, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 14 of their last 15 games, which provided a nice bump to their 22-9 record this season.

Looking ahead, Nansemond-Suffolk Academy won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against Catholic at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Catholic will roll in looking for their tenth straight victory, something Nansemond-Suffolk Academy surely won't give up without a fight. Peninsula Catholic does not have any more games scheduled as of now.