Preview: St. Francis Mariners vs. Heritage Christian Patriots
St. Francis and Heritage Christian are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2017, but not for long. The St. Francis Mariners will be playing at home against the Heritage Christian Patriots at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday. Given that the pair suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this matchup.
St. Francis struggled with offensive rebounds on Friday (Lake Country Lutheran had 800% more) and sadly the final score reflected it. St. Francis was beaten by Lake Country Lutheran 91-53.
Defeat or not, St. Francis got some senior leadership from Keenan Green who scored 13 points and Jaron Johnson who scored 14 points along with 8 rebounds. The contest was Green's third in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Cameron Nerby, who scored 9 points along with 6 rebounds.
Meanwhile, after a string of three wins, Heritage Christian's good fortune finally ran out on Saturday. They took a 84-74 hit to the loss column at the hands of Brookfield Academy. Despite running the score up even higher than they did on Monday (70), Heritage Christian still had to take the loss.
Heritage Christian might have lost, but man, Mike Bowen Jr. was a machine: he dropped a double-double on 29 points and 11 rebounds. The match was Bowen Jr.'s sixth in a row with at least ten points. Josiah Robinson was another key contributor, scoring 13 points.
St. Francis' defeat dropped their record down to 2-1. As for Heritage Christian, they bumped their record down to 4-2 with that defeat, which was their third straight on the road.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: St. Francis have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 43 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Heritage Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 38.3 per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
St. Francis took a serious blow against Heritage Christian when the teams last played back in January, falling 102-64. Will St. Francis have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.
