Two dominant guards in Drew Kegerreis and Julius Gizzi are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Roncalli Royals will head out on the road to face off against the New Palestine Dragons at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Roncalli focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 17 last Wednesday.
Roncalli suffered their biggest loss yet this season last Wednesday. Their rough 61-35 defeat to Warren Central might stick with them for a while. While losing is never fun, Roncalli can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 114th, while Warren Central is ranked 16th).
The losing side was boosted by Noah Schmaltz, who scored 11 points. He continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Joe Taylor, who scored five points.
Meanwhile, New Palestine entered their tilt with Richmond with four consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with five. New Palestine snuck past Richmond with a 63-59 win on Tuesday. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
It was another big night for Gizzi, who dropped a double-double on 33 points and ten rebounds. He also posted two blocks for the first time this season. Moses Haynes was another key contributor, scoring 13 points along with seven assists.
Roncalli's defeat dropped their record down to 6-4. As for New Palestine, their victory was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 10-2.
Keep an eye on the arc in Friday's game: Roncalli have made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having only averaged 7.5 threes per game. It's a different story for New Palestine, though, as they've been averaging only 6.7 threes per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Roncalli ended up a good deal behind New Palestine in their previous meeting back in January of 2023, losing 58-41. Can Roncalli avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
