Basketball Recap: Make It Three in a Row for Academy of the New Church

Academy of the New Church had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 22.5 points) and they went ahead and made it three on Tuesday. They walked away with a 57-44 victory over Friends' Central. That's more bragging rights for the Lions, who also won the pair's last head-to-head.

Academy of the New Church's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Bryce Rollerson led the charge by going 6 of 14 en route to 19 points. Rollerson's evening made it three games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Dior Carter, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 13 boards.

Lions

Offensive Rebounds

12/12/23 @ Peddie	23
01/07/25 @ Friends' Central	17
01/11/24 @ Hun	16
12/05/23 vs Springside Chestnut Hill Academy	14
12/10/24 vs Germantown Friends	14

Academy of the New Church smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive boards. That's the most offensive rebounds they've posted since back in December of 2023.

Despite the defeat, Friends' Central saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Pat Feamster posted 19 points and five rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Vaughn Jones, who had four points.

Academy of the New Church has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 8-5 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 72.4 points per game. As for Friends' Central, their loss was their first in the conference, dropping their conference record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 6-10.

Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Academy of the New Church will head out to take on Friends Select at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. As for Friends' Central, they will head out on the road to square off against George School at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. George School knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past five games -- so hopefully Friends' Central likes a good challenge.