Jefferson Academy is 2-8 against the Sun Devils since February of 2016 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Monday. The Jefferson Academy Jaguars will head out on the road to square off against the Kent Denver Sun Devils at 4:30 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
You can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Jefferson Academy's strategy against the Thunderbolts on Thursday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Jefferson Academy blew the Thunderbolts out of the water with a 58-20 final score. Given Jefferson Academy's advantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 109th, while the Thunderbolts are ranked 246th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Jefferson Academy can attribute much of their success to Rylin Chichirico, who scored 12 points along with eight assists and eight rebounds, and Elsa Nygren, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 13 rebounds. It was the first time this season that Chichirico posted eight or more assists. Another player making a difference was Shal Mathai, who scored eight points.
Meanwhile, Kent Denver entered their tilt with the Fury with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. Kent Denver breezed by the Fury on the road to the tune of 78-34 on Thursday.
Jefferson Academy's win was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 11-5. As for Kent Denver, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 14-3 record this season.
Jefferson Academy came up short against the Sun Devils when the teams last played back in February of 2023, falling 50-43. Can Jefferson Academy avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.