Basketball Game Preview: John Paul II Guardians vs. Incarnate Word Academy Angels

Two dominant guards in Dj Miller and Matthew Cory are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. Having just played yesterday, the John Paul II Guardians will get right back to it and host the Incarnate Word Academy Angels at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

John Paul II is headed into the contest out to prove that what happened against Holy Cross on Thursday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. John Paul II was beaten by Holy Cross 81-52.

John Paul II might have lost, but man, Miller was a machine: he went 9 for 22 on his way to 30 points in addition to six steals and five assists. That was a full 57.7% of John Paul II's points, marking the 12th time in a row he's posted more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Marco Rao, who scored 11 points.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Incarnate Word Academy, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Friday. They managed a 42-37 win over The Christian School at Castle Hills on Tuesday. The score was all tied up 20-20 at the break, but the Angels were the better team in the second half.

Incarnate Word Academy pushed their record up to 19-14 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.0 points per game. As for John Paul II, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-12.

John Paul II was dealt a bruising 86-49 loss at the hands of Incarnate Word Academy in their previous meeting back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Cory, who went 13 of 16 en route to 39 points along with five assists and five steals. Now that John Paul II knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.