Preview: St. Mary's Pirates vs. Ellicott Thunderhawks
The St. Mary's Pirates will head out on the road to challenge the Ellicott Thunderhawks at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (St. Mary's has three straight victories, Ellicott has 17 straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
St. Mary's scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Tuesday. They enjoyed a cozy 59-44 win over La Junta.
Jackson Lewis and Mike Trechter were among the main playmakers for St. Mary's as the former scored 20 points along with six rebounds and two steals and the latter dropped a double-double on 17 points and ten rebounds. It was the first time this season that Trechter scored 15 or more points. Another player making a difference was Josh Padrnos, who scored ten points.
Meanwhile, Ellicott was beaten by Rye 66-34 on Friday. While losing is never fun, Ellicott can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 315th, while Rye is ranked 135th).
St. Mary's win ended a eight-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 5-11. As for Ellicott, their defeat was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season, which dropped their record down to 0-16.
St. Mary's took a serious blow against Ellicott in their previous meeting back in February of 2023, falling 88-52. Can St. Mary's avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
