Preview: Mercy Monarchs vs. Skutt Catholic SkyHawks
Mercy is 1-9 against Skutt Catholic since December of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Mercy Monarchs will head out on the road to face off against the Skutt Catholic SkyHawks at 7:00 p.m. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Mercy comes in on four and Skutt Catholic on 11.
Winning is just a little bit easier when you outrebound your opponent 10 to 3 on the offensive boards, a fact Mercy proved on Saturday. They pulled ahead with a 41-40 photo finish over Brownell Talbot. That's two games straight that Mercy has won by exactly one point.
Mercy got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Clara Behounek out in front who scored ten points. Another player making a difference was Leah Anthofer, who scored seven points along with five rebounds and two steals.
Meanwhile, Skutt Catholic strolled past Sioux City East with points to spare on Monday, taking the game 59-43. Given Skutt Catholic's advantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked first in Nebraska, while Sioux City East is ranked 34th in Iowa), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Mercy has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 7-12 record this season. As for Skutt Catholic, they pushed their record up to 21-1 with that victory, which was their 21st straight at home dating back to last season.
Mercy was taken down by Skutt Catholic 68-26 in their previous meeting back in February of 2023. That game was all but decided by halftime, at which point Mercy was down 44-14.
