The Chesapeake Cougars will square off against the St. John's Catholic Prep Vikings at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Chesapeake has ten straight victories, St. John's Catholic Prep has five straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.
Last Saturday, Chesapeake was able to grind out a solid win over Concordia Prep, taking the game 30-21. The 30-point effort marked the Cougars' lowest-scoring contest of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.
| 01/11/25 vs Concordia Prep | 4 |
| 01/10/25 vs North County | 3 |
| 01/03/25 @ Meade | 2 |
Kiery Matkins was her usual excellent self, putting up 16 points and four steals. She has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last three times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Ella Cieri, who posted eight points and three steals.
Chesapeake smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in ten consecutive games.
Meanwhile, St. John's Catholic Prep was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Thursday as they fell 59-53 to Notre Dame Prep. While losing is never fun, the Vikings can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Maryland basketball rankings (they are ranked 141st, while Notre Dame Prep are ranked 21st).
Defeat or not, St. John's Catholic Prep got some senior leadership from Samantha Shively and Olivia Bolduc. Shively dropped a double-double on 25 points and 15 rebounds, while Bolduc put up 16 points in addition to eight assists and seven rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Shively has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Breana Vance, who had ten points.
Chesapeake's victory bumped their record up to 10-0. As for St. John's Catholic Prep, their loss dropped their record down to 3-10.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Chesapeake has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 37.2 boards per game. However, it's not like St. John's Catholic Prep struggles in that department as they've been averaging 32.6 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Chesapeake strolled past St. John's Catholic Prep in their previous matchup back in January of 2024 by a score of 53-35. Will Chesapeake repeat their success, or does St. John's Catholic Prep have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
