Basketball Preview: Roncalli Royals vs. Beech Grove Hornets
Roncalli has gone 7-2 against Beech Grove recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The Roncalli Royals will challenge the Beech Grove Hornets at 7:30 p.m. Both are strolling into their games after big wins in their previous games.
Roncalli took a loss when they played away from home on Saturday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Tuesday. They really took it to University for the full four quarters, racking up a 67-26 win. With the Royals ahead 44-10 at the half, the match was all but over already.
Roncalli found their leader in sophomore Elliot Leffler, who went 7 for 14 en route to 19 points plus eight rebounds and three steals. What's more, Leffler also racked up four offensive rebounds, the most she's had since back in November of 2023. Another player making a difference was Sara Rosko, who went 5 for 7 en route to 15 points plus two steals.
Roncalli was working as a unit and finished the game with 18 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as University only racked up eight.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Beech Grove). They blew past Indianapolis Lutheran, posting a 53-15 victory. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest win the Hornets have posted against the Saints since November 17, 2015.
Beech Grove's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Mylee Boling, who almost dropped a double-double on 18 points and nine rebounds, and Mariyah Marshall, who went 6 for 11 en route to 12 points plus five rebounds and five steals. Marshall continues to roll, besting her previous point total in each of the last three games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Joslyn Johnson, who had seven points plus five rebounds and three steals.
Roncalli now has a winning record of 2-1. As for Beech Grove, their victory ended a three-game drought at home dating back to last season and bumped them up to 2-2.
Keep an eye on the arc in Thursday's contest: Roncalli has been dynamite from deep this season, having nailed 38.2% of their threes per game. It's a different story for Beech Grove, though, as they've only made 24.6% of their threes this season. Given Roncalli's sizable advantage in that area, Beech Grove will need to find a way to close that gap.
Everything came up roses for Roncalli against Beech Grove when the teams last played back in December of 2020, as the team secured a 79-35 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Roncalli since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
