Basketball Game Preview: Sacred Heart Valkyries vs. Frederick Douglass Broncos

Having just played yesterday, the Sacred Heart Valkyries will head out on the road to face off against the Frederick Douglass Broncos at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Sacred Heart's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last 21 matchups.

Sacred Heart is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Kentucky's top teams: Notre Dame Academy, who was ranked eighth at the time (Sacred Heart was ranked first). Sacred Heart took down Notre Dame Academy 74-59 on Thursday. The win continues a trend for the Valkyries in their matchups with the Pandas: they've now won three in a row.

ZaKiyah Johnson

Points

02/20/25 vs Notre Dame Academy	19
02/18/25 vs Whitefield Academy	17
02/15/25 vs Holy Cross	20
02/14/25 @ Simon Kenton	25
02/12/25 @ George Rogers Clark	26
+ 21 more games

Sacred Heart can attribute much of their success to ZaKiyah Johnson, who dropped a double-double with 19 points and 15 rebounds, and Amirah 'Tootie' Jordan, who went 7-for-12 en route to 20 points and five steals. Johnson is on a roll when it comes to points, as she's now scored 15 or more in each of the last 26 games she's played. Another player making a difference was Bri Wilkins, who posted ten points.

Meanwhile, Frederick Douglass suffered their biggest defeat since February 23, 2024 on Tuesday. They came up short against Cooper, falling 58-38. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Broncos' biggest loss of the season was also their lowest-scoring.

Sacred Heart pushed their record up to 25-3 with the victory, which was their 21st straight at home dating back to last season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 39.3 points. As for Frederick Douglass, their loss dropped their record down to 20-6.

Sacred Heart took their win against Frederick Douglass in their previous meeting back in February of 2024 by a conclusive 82-56. The rematch might be a little tougher for Sacred Heart since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.