You can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely St. James Academy's strategy against Blue Valley Southwest on Tuesday. The St. James Academy Thunder were the clear victor by a 69-43 margin over the Blue Valley Southwest Timberwolves. Given the Thunder's advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 18th, while the Timberwolves are ranked 99th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
| 01/14/25 vs Blue Valley Southwest | 22 |
| 02/13/24 @ Blue Valley North | 15 |
| 02/19/24 @ St. Pius X | 15 |
| 12/06/24 vs St. Pius X | 15 |
| 02/06/24 vs Blue Valley West | 15 |
St. James Academy's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Riley Kerwin, who went 7 for 16 en route to 22 points and three steals. Those 22 points gave Kerwin a new career-high. Caroline Rueger also deserves some recognition as she posted her first block of the season.
St. James Academy was working as a unit and finished the game with 19 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Blue Valley Southwest only racked up nine assists.
Blue Valley Southwest's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Lily Unruh, who went 5 of 12 on her way to 14 points, and Mia Hansen, who went 6 for 14 en route to 14 points.
St. James Academy's victory was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 4-1. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 62.0 points per game. As for Blue Valley Southwest, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 4-2.
St. James Academy has already played their next match, a 73-6 win against Washington on the 16th. As for Blue Valley Southwest, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next game, a 53-43 loss against Blue Valley Northwest on the 17th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
