Phoenix School of Academic Excellence are on the road again on Wednesday and plays BASIS - Mesa at 6:30 p.m. on February 7th. Phoenix School of Academic Excellence will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Arizona Rankings (they are ranked 309th, while BASIS - Mesa is ranked 93rd).
Two weeks ago, Phoenix School of Academic Excellence lost to New Way Learning Academy on the road by a decisive 59-40 margin.
Despite the defeat, Phoenix School of Academic Excellence saw an underclassman step up: Carmine Villegas scored 16 points along with five rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Casey Holmes, who scored 11 points.
Meanwhile, BASIS - Mesa had already won seven in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 26.9 points), and they went ahead and made it eight last Tuesday. Everything went their way against New Way Learning Academy as BASIS - Mesa made off with a 55-32 win. BASIS - Mesa has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine matchups by 23 points or more this season.
BASIS - Mesa's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Matteo Huish, who almost dropped a double-double on 16 points and nine rebounds, and Cayden Plese, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and ten rebounds. Another player making a difference was Robert Muniz, who scored ten points along with five rebounds.
Phoenix School of Academic Excellence's defeat dropped their record down to 2-9. As for BASIS - Mesa, their victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 12-3.
Phoenix School of Academic Excellence suffered a grim 51-25 defeat to BASIS - Mesa in their previous matchup back in January. Can Phoenix School of Academic Excellence avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
