Preview: St. Petersburg Catholic Barons vs. Tampa Prep Terrapins
St. Petersburg Catholic is 1-8 against Tampa Prep since November of 2016 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The St. Petersburg Catholic Barons will be staying on the road to face off against the Tampa Prep Terrapins at 7:30 p.m. on December 12th. St. Petersburg Catholic has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 342 points over their last five games.
St. Petersburg Catholic pushed their score all the way to 58 on Tuesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a 70-58 hit to the loss column at the hands of Clearwater Central Catholic. While losing is never fun, St. Petersburg Catholic can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 647th, while Clearwater Central Catholic is ranked 136th).
Meanwhile, Tampa Prep put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their perfect season alive. They took down Fivay 68-49. Winning is a bit easier when you work as a team to rack up 12 more assists than your opponent, as Tampa Prep did.
Tampa Prep's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Chandler White Brooks, who scored 18 points. The contest was White Brooks' fifth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Ben Jackson, who scored 14 points along with 6 rebounds.
The last time St. Petersburg Catholic won on the road was back last Friday. Having now lost four straight away games, they've bumped their record down to 0-5. As for Tampa Prep, their win bumped their record up to 5-0.
St. Petersburg Catholic was able to grind out a solid victory over Tampa Prep in their previous matchup back in January of 2021, winning 60-50. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Tampa Prep's Valentino Hart, who scored 16 points along with 8 rebounds. Now that he won't be playing on Tuesday, will it be that much easier for St. Petersburg Catholic to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
