Basketball Recap: St. Augustine Prep Proves Higher State Rank Is No Mistake

After losing to Mainland Regional the last time they met, St. Augustine Prep decided to demonstrate that turnabout is fair play. The St. Augustine Prep Hermits snuck past the Mainland Regional Mustangs with a 56-51 victory on Tuesday. Given the Hermits' advantage in MaxPreps' New Jersey basketball rankings (they are ranked 53rd, while the Mustangs are ranked 334th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

St. Augustine Prep is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a massive bump to their 5-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.2 points per game. As for Mainland Regional, they are on an eight-game losing streak (dating back to last season) that has dropped them down to 0-7.

When St. Augustine Prep and Mainland Regional next hit the court, they'll be up against teams who recently just can't seem to lose. St. Augustine Prep will try to stop St. Joseph's six-game winning streak when the meet at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Meanwhile, Mainland Regional will square off against Wildwood Catholic and their four-game winning streak at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.