Basketball Game Preview: St. Mary's Saints vs. St. Frances Academy Panthers

Two dominant guards in Bailey Harris and Sydney Sutton are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The St. Mary's Saints and the St. Frances Academy Panthers will compete for holiday cheer at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

St. Mary's is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Maryland's top teams: Archbishop Spalding, who was ranked 23rd at the time (St. Mary's was ranked tenth). St. Mary's strolled past Archbishop Spalding with points to spare on Wednesday, taking the game 56-41. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Saints.

Alexandra Vandiver

Rebounds (Career)

12/11/24 vs Archbishop Spalding	17
02/02/24 vs Archbishop Spalding	16
12/15/23 vs Pallotti	15
12/28/23 @ Linganore	15
12/11/23 @ Gerstell Academy	14

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead St. Mary's to victory, but perhaps none more so than Alexandra Vandiver, who shot 4-for-6 from long range and dropped a double-double on 19 points and 17 rebounds. Those 17 boards gave Vandiver a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Harris, who posted 18 points and six rebounds.

St. Mary's was working as a unit and finished the game with 17 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Archbishop Spalding only racked up two assists.

Meanwhile, St. Frances Academy entered their tilt with Norfolk Christian on Saturday with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They put the hurt on the Ambassadors with a sharp 55-32 victory. The 55-point effort marked the Panthers' lowest-scoring matchup of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.

St. Mary's pushed their record up to 4-4 with the win, which was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 59.8 points per game. As for St. Frances Academy, their record is now 6-1.

St. Mary's came up short against St. Frances Academy when the teams last played back in February, falling 67-59. Can St. Mary's avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.