Merit Preparatory Academy and Telos are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2018, but not for long. The Merit Preparatory Academy Knights will be playing at home against Telos at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Merit Preparatory Academy has five straight victories, Telos has nine straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.
Merit Preparatory Academy will head into Tuesday's game hoping to keep the good times rolling: they had to skate by with only a two-point margin when they last took the court, which might have inspired the 27-point drubbing they dealt Salt Lake Academy on Tuesday. Merit Preparatory Academy claimed a resounding 71-44 win over Salt Lake Academy. The Knights have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven matchups by 27 points or more this season.
Michigan Draper was his usual excellent self, going 6 of 12 en route to 13 points along with seven assists and seven steals. He is trending in the right direction considering he's improved his point production for four straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Cruz Steinman, who posted 14 points and six rebounds.
Merit Preparatory Academy smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in five consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Telos played a tough game on Wednesday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They took a blow against Utah Military Academy - Hill Field, falling 68-30. Telos was in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 45-13.
Merit Preparatory Academy will need focus on slowing down Noah Haugen, one of several Telos players who made an impact when they last played. He had six points. Kemari McCauley was another key player, putting up eight points.
Merit Preparatory Academy has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 8-4 record this season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 45.5 points. As for Telos, their loss dropped their record down to 0-9.
Keep an eye on the arc in Friday's contest: Merit Preparatory Academy has made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having averaged 8.8 three-pointers per game. It's a different story for Telos, though, as they've been averaging only 3.9 three-pointers. Given Merit Preparatory Academy's sizable advantage in that area, Telos will need to find a way to close that gap.
Everything came up roses for Merit Preparatory Academy against Telos when the teams last played back in November of 2024, as the squad secured an 82-20 victory. Does Merit Preparatory Academy have another victory up their sleeve, or will Telos turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
