Ozanam entered their tilt with Frontier School of Excellence with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. Ozanam sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 44-41 win over Frontier School of Excellence on Thursday. That result was just more of the same for these two, as Ozanam also won the last time the pair played back in January.
Ozanam's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but A.W. Poke led the charge by scoring eight points along with seven steals and five rebounds. Those seven steals set a new season-high mark for him. The team also got some help courtesy of Talan Olmstead, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 14 rebounds.
Despite the defeat, Frontier School of Excellence had strong showings from Merwis Ramirez Rodriguez, who scored 14 points, and Henry Uti, who scored 12 points. Ramirez Rodriguez scored a full 34.1% of Frontier School of Excellence's points, the third time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Jakeem Davis was another key contributor, scoring six points.
Ozanam's victory bumped their record up to 4-5. As for Frontier School of Excellence, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 5-2.
Ozanam will have some time to savor their win since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on Independence Home School at 4:30 p.m. on January 5, 2024. Frontier School of Excellence will be home for the holidays to greet Frontier STEM at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Frontier STEM is still on the hunt for that elusive first 'W'.
