The Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary Cardinals will face off against the Verbum Dei Jesuit Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary is probably headed into the game with a chip on their shoulder considering St. Genevieve just ended the team's three-game winning streak on Wednesday. They took a 63-58 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Valiants.
Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary might have lost, but man, Jose Padilla was a machine: he went 9 of 21 en route to 31 points and three steals. That was a full 53.4% of Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary's points, marking the third time in a row he's posted more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Gio Chavez, who put up 14 points.
Meanwhile, Verbum Dei Jesuit entered their tilt with La Salle last Monday with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past the Lancers 57-54.
Verbum Dei Jesuit found their leader in sophomore Jaythan Pinckney, who dropped a double-double on 20 points and 15 boards. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Pinckney has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Ryan Figueroa, who had 15 points and five rebounds.
Verbum Dei Jesuit smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive rebounds in three consecutive matchups.
Verbum Dei Jesuit is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 9-8 record this season. As for Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary, their loss dropped their record down to 12-6.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the two teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 55.9 points per game. However, it's not like Verbum Dei Jesuit struggles in that department as they've been averaging 56.1 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary beat Verbum Dei Jesuit 60-51 when the teams last played back in January of 2024. Will Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary repeat their success, or does Verbum Dei Jesuit have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
