Granger is 0-5 against Juan Diego Catholic since December of 2019 but things could change on Monday. The Granger Lancers will face off against the Juan Diego Catholic Soaring Eagle at 7:00 p.m. Both are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Granger is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They simply couldn't be stopped on Friday as they easily beat Kearns 71-43. The matchup was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Lancers had established a 21 point advantage.
Granger's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Zephaniah Willford, who went 5 for 11 en route to 14 points, and Mason Biddulph, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and nine rebounds. Braslau Simo was another key player, putting up four points.
Meanwhile, Juan Diego Catholic waltzed into their game on Friday with six straight wins... but they left with seven. They put the hurt on the Jaguars with a sharp 75-49 victory. Given the Soaring Eagle's advantage in MaxPreps' Utah basketball rankings (they are ranked 32nd, while the Jaguars are ranked 115th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Juan Diego Catholic's win came from a few key players Granger will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Luke Meyer, who dropped a double-double on 20 points and 12 boards. His evening made it four games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Stockton Young, who posted 15 points and six assists.
Juan Diego Catholic smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 20 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in four consecutive contests.
Juan Diego Catholic pushed their record up to 13-5 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 67.0 points per game. As for Granger, their victory ended an 11-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 4-13.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Granger has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 25.7 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Juan Diego Catholic struggles in that department as they've been averaging 32.1 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Granger might still be hurting after the 70-49 defeat they got from Juan Diego Catholic when the teams last played back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Meyer, who dropped a double-double on 25 points and 20 rebounds. Now that Granger knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
