Basketball Preview: St. Frances Academy Panthers vs. Archbishop Spalding Cavaliers
St. Frances Academy is 10-0 against the Cavaliers since February of 2019, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Wednesday. The St. Frances Academy Panthers' homestand continues as they prepare to take on the Archbishop Spalding Cavaliers at 5:15 p.m. on February 7th. Hopefully St. Frances Academy is not getting complacent, as they presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than the Cavaliers in Maryland (the Panthers are ranked 13th, while the Cavaliers are ranked 65th).
Even though St. Mary's scored an imposing 59 points on Monday, St. Frances Academy still came out on top. St. Frances Academy walked away with a 67-59 win over the Saints.
Meanwhile, Archbishop Spalding's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Saturday after their sixth straight loss. They took a 58-53 hit to the loss column at the hands of Western.
Whitley Watkins put forth a good effort for the losing side as she dropped a double-double on 22 points and 13 rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points she has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Madison Smith, who scored 13 points along with seven rebounds.
Even though they lost, Archbishop Spalding were working as a unit and finished the game with 14 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
St. Frances Academy is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight games, which provided a nice bump to their 15-7 record this season. As for Archbishop Spalding, they have been struggling recently as they've lost eight of their last nine games, which put a noticeable dent in their 8-12 record this season.
Everything came up roses for St. Frances Academy against the Cavaliers in their previous matchup last Friday as the squad secured a 57-28 win. Will St. Frances Academy repeat their success, or do the Cavaliers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
