The Melrose Golden Wildcats entered their tilt with the Power Center Academy Knights with four consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with five. Melrose sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 68-66 win over Power Center Academy on Friday. That's two games straight that Melrose has won by exactly two points.
Melrose's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Devin Sanders Jr led the charge by dropping a double-double on 21 points and 20 rebounds. Sanders Jr is absolutely dominating the rebound category: he's posted at least eight every time he's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was William Carver, who scored 23 points along with two steals.
Power Center Academy lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being 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.
Melrose pushed their record up to 15-5 with that win, which was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 73.0 points per game. As for Power Center Academy, their loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 10-5.
Coincidentally, Melrose and Power Center Academy 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.
