Preview: East Panthers vs. Health Sciences Charter Falcons
East has enjoyed a three-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will challenge the Health Sciences Charter Falcons at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. East will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps New York Rankings (they are ranked 688th, while Health Sciences Charter is ranked 99th).
Last Tuesday, it was a hard-fought match, but East had to settle for a 54-52 defeat against International Prep at Grover.
East's defeat came about despite a quality game from Jussean Pearsall, who scored 20 points along with seven rebounds and three steals. Pearsall hasn't dropped below two steals for 12 straight games. Another player making a difference was Zander Casillas, who scored 11 points along with three steals.
Meanwhile, Health Sciences Charter had already won eight in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 28.5 points), and they went ahead and made it nine on Tuesday. They blew past Hutchinson-Central Tech 78-44 on the road. Health Sciences Charter has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine games by 21 points or more this season.
Health Sciences Charter got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Amir Moye out in front who scored 23 points along with six rebounds and five assists. Moye hasn't dropped below three steals for ten straight games. Michael Whitt was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on 21 points and ten rebounds.
East dropped their record down to 4-12 with that defeat, which was their seventh straight at home. That rough patch can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 58.9 points per game. As for Health Sciences Charter, their victory bumped their record up to 13-2.
Thursday's contest will pit two of the most dominant guards against one another: Pearsall and Moye. Pearsall has been dynamite this season: he has averaged 19.7 points and 2.9 steals. For his part, Moye has averaged 18.5 points, 3.6 steals, and 7.1 assists.
East was dealt a bruising 74-40 defeat at the hands of Health Sciences Charter when the teams last played back in January. Can East avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
