Preview: Summit Academy Bears vs. South Summit Wildcats
Summit Academy and South Summit are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2019, but not for long. The Summit Academy Bears will square off against the South Summit Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are closely ranked in Utah (Summit Academy is ranked 68th, while South Summit is ranked 77th).
Summit Academy struggled with assists on Tuesday (Layton Christian Academy had 15 more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Summit Academy received a tough blow as they fell 52-33 to Layton Christian Academy. Summit Academy was down 43-19 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.
Summit Academy's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Destinee Flores, who scored ten points along with five rebounds, and Avery Backus who scored seven points along with seven rebounds and three steals. Backus is crushing the steal category: she's posted at least two every time she's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was Regan Georgeson, who scored two points along with five blocks.
Meanwhile, South Summit's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Thursday after their third straight loss. They fell to Union 60-56. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
Despite the loss, South Summit got a solid performance out of Emma Broadbent, who dropped a double-double on 20 points and 20 rebounds. That was a full 35.7% of South Summit's points, marking the ninth time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Mariah Bowen was another key contributor, scoring 11 points along with six assists and five rebounds.
Summit Academy's record now sits at 14-8. South Summit's record is now 14-9.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Summit Academy have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 27.8 rebounds per game. However, it's not like South Summit struggles in that department as they've been averaging 37.2 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Summit Academy beat South Summit 47-37 when the teams last played back in December of 2023. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Broadbent, who dropped a double-double on 23 points and 19 rebounds. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Summit Academy still be able to contain Broadbent? There's only one way to find out.
