Basketball Game Preview: Roanoke Catholic Celtics vs. Eastern Mennonite Flames

The Roanoke Catholic Celtics are taking a road trip to square off against the Eastern Mennonite Flames at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. One thing working in Roanoke Catholic's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last six matches.

Roanoke Catholic is headed into the contest after thoroughly thrashing Jefferson Christian Academy: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Roanoke Catholic blew Jefferson Christian Academy out of the water with a 76-25 final score. The Celtics have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six games by 25 points or more this season.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Roanoke Catholic to victory, but perhaps none more so than Jayden Johnson, who went 5 of 7 on his way to 16 points. Johnson's evening made it six games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Demarcus Brown, who went 5 for 8 en route to 12 points.

Meanwhile, Eastern Mennonite scored the most points they've had this season on Thursday, but it wasn't enough. They received a blow as they fell 84-67 to North Cross. While losing is never fun, the Flames can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Virginia basketball rankings (they are ranked 263rd, while the Raiders are ranked 67th).

Eastern Mennonite dropped their record down to 2-10 with the loss, which was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season. Those losses can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 52.4 points per game. As for Roanoke Catholic, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a massive bump to their 9-6 record this season.

Roanoke Catholic beat Eastern Mennonite 79-66 in their previous meeting back in December of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for Roanoke Catholic since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.