Basketball Game Preview: Tampa Catholic Crusaders vs. Hialeah Educational Academy Biggie

The Tampa Catholic Crusaders will square off against the Hialeah Educational Academy Biggie at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Last Friday, Tampa Catholic didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Union Catholic, but they still walked away with a 67-63 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Crusaders.

It was another big night for Willie Piggott, who dropped a double-double on 27 points and 14 rebounds. The matchup was his fifth in a row with at least ten points. Skoot Donald was another key player, going 7 for 17 on his way to 17 points.

Hialeah Educational Academy has been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. They might have been a little too into the holiday spirit, gifting Eaglecrest an easy 79-55 victory. While losing is never fun, the Biggie can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 39th in Florida, while the Raptors are ranked fifth in Colorado).

Tampa Catholic is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 7-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 73.0 points per game. As for Hialeah Educational Academy, their loss dropped their record down to 6-3.

Tampa Catholic didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Hialeah Educational Academy when the teams last played back in November of 2023, but they still walked away with a 76-71 win. Does Tampa Catholic have another victory up their sleeve, or will Hialeah Educational Academy turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.