Basketball Recap: Virginia Academy Wins High-Profile Contest Against Saint James

Virginia Academy is ranked highly in their home state and on Friday they took on another highly ranked team in the form of Saint James. The Virginia Academy Patriots walked away with a 78-70 victory over the Saint James Saints. The Patriots have seen this before: they got the W the last time they saw the Saints, too.

Rondel Jones Jr.

Points

11/29/24 @ Saint James	21
11/26/24 @ Seton	9
11/21/24 @ North Cross	19
11/19/24 @ King Abdullah Academy	15

Virginia Academy's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Rondel Jones Jr. led the charge by putting up 21 points and three steals. With that strong performance, Jones Jr. is now averaging an impressive 16 points per game. Another player making a difference was Matthew McLaurin, who posted 18 points.

Jayden Yates and Christian Gladchuk certainly did their best on Friday to avoid the loss. Yates earned 29 points and six assists, while Gladchuk went 7 of 13 on his way to 23 points and three steals. The game was Yates' fourth in a row with at least ten points.

The win made it two in a row for Virginia Academy and bumps their season record up to 3-1. As for Saint James, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-3.

Virginia Academy wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next contest, a 94-88 victory against Benedictine on the 30th. As for Saint James, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next match, a 70-46 win against Veritas Collegiate Academy on the 30th.