The Power Center Academy Knights suffered their closest loss yet this season on Friday. They fell just short of Melrose by a score of 68-66. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
Power Center Academy's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Nazir Allen, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 17 rebounds. Allen is absolutely dominating the rebound category: he's posted at least eight every time he's taken the court this season. Jayden Baker was another key contributor, scoring 21 points.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Melrose to victory, but perhaps none more so than Devin Sanders Jr, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and 20 rebounds. Sanders Jr continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of William Carver, who scored 23 points along with two steals.
Power Center Academy's defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 10-5. As for Melrose, they are on a roll lately: they've won 12 of their last 13 games, which provided a nice bump to their 15-5 record this season.
Coincidentally, the pair will both be playing Ridgeway the next time they take the court. Melrose will host Ridgeway at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, while Power Center Academy will head out to face them at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
