Basketball Recap: Northland Prep Academy Takes a Loss

After flying high against Hopi last Tuesday, Northland Prep Academy came back down to earth. The Northland Prep Academy Spartans took a 79-70 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Camp Verde Cowboys on Thursday. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game last Tuesday (64), the Spartans still had to take the loss.

Simon Pickup

Points (Career)

01/30/25 @ Camp Verde	28
01/22/25 vs Kingman Academy	21
12/14/24 vs Safford	17
01/13/25 @ BASIS Flagstaff	16
01/16/25 vs Many Farms	15

When it comes to explaining why Northland Prep Academy lost, don't look at Simon Pickup. Despite the final result, he went 6 of 9 from beyond the arc en route to 28 points along with five steals and three blocks. Those 28 points gave Pickup a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Ian Karren, who posted 11 points and five boards.

Even though they lost, Northland Prep Academy smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 12 offensive rebounds in three consecutive games.

Camp Verde's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Julian Perez, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and ten rebounds. Perez has become a key player for Camp Verde: the team is 6-2 when he posts at least ten boards, but 8-9 otherwise. Jordan McMahon-Fullmer was another key player, dropping a double-double on 26 points and 11 rebounds.

Northland Prep Academy's loss dropped their record down to 17-9. As for Camp Verde, they pushed their record up to 14-11 with the win, which was their seventh straight at home.

Northland Prep Academy wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next matchup, a 67-65 victory against St. Johns on the 1st. As for Camp Verde, they have also already played their next contest, an 88-79 win against Madison Highland Prep on the 31st.