Preview: Aquinas Falcons vs. Ontario Christian Knights
Aquinas is 1-9 against Ontario Christian since January of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. Having just played yesterday, the Aquinas Falcons will head out on the road to face off against the Ontario Christian Knights at 6:00 p.m. on January 16th. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Aquinas comes in on six and Ontario Christian on eight.
Aquinas stacked a tenth blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Monday. They were the clear victor by a 59-39 margin over Pacifica Christian/Orange County. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest win Aquinas has posted since December 27, 2023.
Aquinas' win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Madeleine De Kodia, who scored 15 points along with six rebounds and six steals. De Kodia hasn't dropped below two steals for six straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Madeleine Barker, who scored 19 points along with seven rebounds.
Meanwhile, Ontario Christian stacked a seventh blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Thursday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Rancho Christian 87-50 at home. Given Ontario Christian's advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked ninth, while Rancho Christian is ranked 44th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Kaleena Smith was her usual excellent self, scoring 37 points along with eight assists and seven steals. That makes it five consecutive games in which she has scored at least a third of Ontario Christian's points. Another player making a difference was Amanda Ajobiewe, who scored 12 points.
Aquinas is on a roll lately: they've won 12 of their last 13 games, which provided a nice bump to their 18-5 record this season. As for Ontario Christian, their win bumped their record up to 15-3.
Tuesday's match will pit two of the most dominant players against one another: De Kodia and Smith. De Kodia has been dynamite this season: she has averaged 13.2 points, 4.9 steals, and 1.4 blocks. For her part, Smith has averaged 32.9 points, 3.6 steals, and 6.2 assists.
Aquinas was dealt a bruising 90-32 defeat at the hands of Ontario Christian when the teams last played back in February of 2023. The game was all but decided by halftime, at which point Aquinas was down 44-17.
