The St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders's road trip will continue as they head out to face the Dwyer Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on February 20th. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but St. Thomas Aquinas had no problem doing just that on Thursday. They strolled past the Colonels with points to spare, taking the game 69-52. Given St. Thomas Aquinas' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 16th, while Plantation is ranked 158th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Matt Andreopoulos had an outrageously good game as he scored 23 points along with three steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points he has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Drake (DJ) Sandi, who scored 11 points along with six assists and three steals.
Meanwhile, Dwyer put the finishing touches on their 11th blowout victory of the season on Thursday. They were the clear victor by a 72-49 margin over Southridge. The win was nothing new for Dwyer as they're now sitting on eight straight.
Dwyer's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Amari Nealy, who scored 18 points along with eight rebounds and two steals. Another player making a difference was Jaelen Nelson, who scored 17 points along with eight rebounds.
St. Thomas Aquinas has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 20-6 record this season. As for Dwyer, their win bumped their record up to 22-3.
Tuesday's match is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: St. Thomas Aquinas have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 25.8 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Dwyer struggles in that department as they've been averaging 34.6 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
St. Thomas Aquinas came up short against Dwyer when the teams last played back in February of 2018, falling 70-57. Thankfully for St. Thomas Aquinas, MILES COLEMAN (who went 6 for 9 from beyond the arc en route to 23 points and 0 assists) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
