Two dominant players in Hunter Roark and Trey Boychuk are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Stargate School Eagles will head out on the road to face off against The Academy Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Hopefully Stargate School is not getting complacent, as they presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than The Academy in Colorado (Stargate School is ranked 114th, while The Academy is ranked 240th).
Last Saturday, Stargate School earned a 51-38 win over Jefferson Academy. The win was just what Stargate School needed coming off of a 68-42 loss in their prior matchup.
Stargate School's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Dylan Perkins, who scored 17 points along with six rebounds and two blocks, and Roark, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 12 rebounds. That's the first time this season that Perkins posted two or more blocks.
Meanwhile, The Academy fought the good fight in their overtime game against Eagle Ridge Academy on Friday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Warriors by a score of 68-65. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their last game last Tuesday (59), The Academy still had to take the loss.
The Academy's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Boychuk, who scored 28 points along with two steals, and CJ Hernandez who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 12 rebounds. That was a full 43.1% of The Academy's points, marking the third time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Ian Lamar, who scored three points along with six assists and six rebounds.
Stargate School's victory bumped their record up to 6-3. As for The Academy, they have not been sharp recently, as they've lost seven of their last eight games, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-9 record this season.
Stargate School beat The Academy 76-68 in their previous meeting back in January of 2023. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was The Academy's Brandon Vigil, who scored 22 points. Now that he won't be playing on Thursday, will it be that much easier for Stargate School to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
