The STEAD STINGERS just played yesterday, but they'll still head out to face the Ascent Classical Academy Northern Colorado Archers at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this contest.
STEAD easily dispatched Victory Prep Academy on Tuesday, but unfortunately both the margin and the ultimate result were a different story in this one. STEAD fell just short of St. John Paul the Great by a score of 54-52 on Wednesday.
STEAD might have lost, but man, Angel Rodrigez was a machine: he dropped a double-double on 35 points and 14 boards. STEAD is 2-1 when Rodrigez posts 25 or more points, but 0-4 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Kj Collins, who posted six points.
Meanwhile, Ascent Classical Academy Northern Colorado ended up a good deal behind Loveland Protestant Reformed Christian on Thursday and lost 50-31. The Archers were down 46-15 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.
STEAD will have to contain Asher French as he made an impact in Ascent Classical Academy Northern Colorado's last game. He went 5 of 8 en route to 11 points. Carter MacAlmon was another key player, putting up six points.
STEAD has been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 2-5 record this season. Those losses can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 54.0 points per game. As for Ascent Classical Academy Northern Colorado, their loss dropped their record down to 5-7.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: STEAD has been crashing the rebounds this season, having averaged 29 boards per game. However, it's not like Ascent Classical Academy Northern Colorado struggles in that department as they've been averaging 23.1 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
STEAD came up short against Ascent Classical Academy Northern Colorado when the teams last played two weeks ago, falling 51-45. Can STEAD avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
