Basketball Recap: Merit Preparatory Academy Piles Up the Points Against Telos

Knights

Margin (Wins)

01/10/25 vs Telos	74
12/21/24 vs Dugway	63
12/21/24 vs Pinnacle	42
01/07/25 vs Salt Lake Academy	27
01/03/25 @ American Prep WV	2

Merit Preparatory Academy had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 41 points) and they went ahead and made it six on Friday. They breezed by Telos to the tune of 100-26. The Knights have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight matchups by 27 points or more this season.

Cruz Steinman was his usual excellent self, going 13 of 20 en route to 31 points and eight steals. Those eight steals gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Michigan Draper, who almost dropped a triple-double on ten points, 12 assists, and nine steals.

Merit Preparatory Academy smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in six consecutive contests.

Merit Preparatory Academy has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight games, which provided a nice bump to their 9-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 81.4 points per game. As for Telos, they are on a ten-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 0-10.

Merit Preparatory Academy will venture away from home to challenge Utah Military Academy - Hill Field at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. That match will pit two of the most dominant forwards against one another: Steinman and Quinlan Ekberg. As for Telos, they won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against Escalante at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.