The Ajo Red Raiders will take on American Leadership Academy in a holiday battle at at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Having struggled with four defeats in a row dating back to last season, Ajo turned things around against Estrella on Friday. They took down the Sidewinders 62-47.
Meanwhile, American Leadership Academy came tearing into Monday's game with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 17.7 points) and they left with even more momentum. They came out on top against the Angels by a score of 79-72. The score was all tied up 33-33 at the break, but American Leadership Academy was the better team in the second half.
Ajo better focus on containing CJ Christopher Williams and Porter Jones as the pair were huge in American Leadership Academy's win. Williams dropped a triple-double on 40 points, ten boards, and ten assists, while Jones went 8 of 15 from beyond the arc on his way to 30 points. That makes it six consecutive games in which Williams has scored at least a third of American Leadership Academy's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Bryce Adams, who posted six points.
American Leadership Academy smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 21 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive boards in four consecutive matchups.
American Leadership Academy's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 5-2. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 76.0 points per game. As for Ajo, their victory (their first of the season) made their record 1-3.
Ajo came up short against American Leadership Academy when the teams last played last Friday, falling 72-65. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Williams, who dropped a double-double on 48 points and 11 boards. Now that Ajo knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
