Cardinal Gibbons is on a four-game streak of home wins, while Broughton is on a four-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Cardinal Gibbons Crusaders will host the Broughton Capitals at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. Cardinal Gibbons knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past four games -- so hopefully Broughton likes a good challenge.
Cardinal Gibbons is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. Everything went their way against Athens Drive on Friday as Cardinal Gibbons made off with an 89-69 victory. Given the Crusaders' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 68th, while the Jaguars are ranked 262nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
| 01/24/25 vs Athens Drive | 26 |
| 01/07/25 @ Millbrook | 20 |
| 01/17/25 @ Leesville Road | 11 |
| 12/30/24 @ Ben L. Smith | 9 |
| 01/09/25 vs Enloe | 6 |
Cardinal Gibbons had a senior duo take command as Damon Phillips went 8 for 13 from beyond the arc on his way to 26 points and five assists and Cash McSweeney dropped a double-double on 19 points and ten boards. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Phillips has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Bryce Fitzsimmons, who went 7 of 11 en route to 11 points.
Meanwhile, in a tight match that could have gone either way, Broughton made off with a 51-50 win over Enloe.
Broughton's win came from a few key players Cardinal Gibbons will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Sam Freeman, who went 5 for 12 on his way to 13 points and four steals. Those four steals gave him a new career-high. Hudson Fitzgerald was another key player, putting up eight points.
Broughton smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in six consecutive contests.
Cardinal Gibbons' victory bumped their record up to 10-6. As for Broughton, they have also been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 11-6 record this season.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as both are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Cardinal Gibbons hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 66 points per game. However, it's not like Broughton struggles in that department as they've been averaging 63.9 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Cardinal Gibbons strolled past Broughton when the teams last played back in February of 2024 by a score of 73-55. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Broughton's Jordan Page, who dropped a double-double on 29 points and ten rebounds. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Cardinal Gibbons still be able to contain Page? There's only one way to find out.
