Basketball Recap: Academy of the New Church Triumphs

Academy of the New Church had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 19.3 points) and they went ahead and made it four on Friday. In a tight contest that could have gone either way, they made off with a 62-61 win over Friends Select. That's more bragging rights for the Lions, who also won the pair's last head-to-head.

Leading Academy of the New Church to victory were Cameron Smith and Bryce Rollerson. Smith went 7 of 10 en route to 16 points and eight rebounds, while Rollerson posted 16 points and seven assists. The match was Rollerson's fourth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Marquis Newson, who had nine points in addition to six rebounds and three blocks.

Academy of the New Church smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive boards in three consecutive games.

Academy of the New Church has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 9-5 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 70.7 points per game. As for Friends Select, they moved to 11-7 with that defeat, which also ended their four-game winning streak.

Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Academy of the New Church will challenge Pennington at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. As for Friends Select, they will take on George School at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.