Preview: Ozanam vs. Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy Rams
Ozanam is 2-8 against Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy since December of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. Ozanam will be playing in front of their home fans against the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy Rams at 4:30 p.m. Hopefully Ozanam focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 29 on Thursday.
Last Thursday, Ozanam strolled past Frontier STEM with points to spare, taking the game 51-36.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Ozanam to victory, but perhaps none more so than Skylar Horn, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 19 rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Horn has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Zaireion Nicholson, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 14 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy opened the new year with a less-than-successful 64-54 loss to Independence Home School. While losing is never fun, Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 549th, while Independence Home School is ranked 255th).
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Riley Ellis, who scored 19 points. That was a full 35.2% of Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy's points, marking the third time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Naftali Tilove, who scored 13 points.
Ozanam's win bumped their record up to 5-7. As for Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 1-4.
This contest is shaping up to be a blowout: Ozanam hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having only averaged 54.2 points per game. It's a different story for Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, though, as they've been averaging only 38.4 points per game. The only thing between Ozanam and another offensive beatdown is Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy. Will they be able to keep them contained?
Everything came up roses for Ozanam against Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy in their previous matchup back in November of 2023 as the squad secured a 61-27 victory. Will Ozanam repeat their success, or does Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
