St. Bernard and McKinleyville are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2015, but not for long. The St. Bernard's Crusaders are on the road again on Thursday and plays the McKinleyville Panthers at 7:30 p.m. on February 8th. St. Bernard's has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 480 points over their last seven contests.
St. Bernard's put the finishing touches on their 15th blowout victory of the season on Friday. They blew past Ferndale 67-43. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 37-14.
McKinleyville was handed a 28-point defeat in their previous outing, but they didn't let that bad energy affect their game against Fortuna on Tuesday. McKinleyville narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past Fortuna 53-50. The win was just what McKinleyville needed coming off of a 65-37 loss in their prior game.
McKinleyville's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Cole Armstrong led the charge by almost dropping a double-double on 12 points and nine blocks. Armstrong has been hot recently, having posted two or more blocks the last six times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Flynn Creighton, who scored 13 points along with two steals.
St. Bernard's pushed their record up to 20-3 with that win, which was their eighth straight on the road dating back to last season. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 66.1 points per game. As for McKinleyville, their victory bumped their record up to 18-10.
St. Bernard's didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against McKinleyville in their previous meeting back in January, but they still walked away with a 53-47 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for St. Bernard's since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
