Jackson Academy and Madison-Ridgeland Academy are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2021, but not for long. The Jackson Academy Raiders will look to defend their home court on Thursday against the Madison-Ridgeland Academy Patriots at 7:45 p.m. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Jackson Academy is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Mississippi's top teams: Jackson Prep, who was ranked fifth at the time (Jackson Academy was ranked fourth). Jackson Academy walked away with a 61-54 win over Jackson Prep on Tuesday. The victory was familiar territory for the Raiders who have now won five matchups in a row.
Meanwhile, Madison-Ridgeland Academy strolled past St. Joseph Catholic with points to spare on Tuesday, taking the game 64-45. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Patriots.
Jackson Academy better focus on containing Will Bizot and Erick Dampier, Jr. as the pair were huge in Madison-Ridgeland Academy's win. Bizot dropped a double-double on 32 points and ten boards, while Dampier, Jr. dropped a double-double on 24 points and 21 rebounds. The dominant performance gave Bizot a new career-high in boards. Joshua Smith was another key player, putting up six points.
Jackson Academy's win was their 17th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 18-4. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 69.5 points per game. As for Madison-Ridgeland Academy, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 16-10 record this season.
Jackson Academy didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Madison-Ridgeland Academy in their previous meeting on January 14th, but they still walked away with a 45-41 victory. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Dampier, Jr., who went 10 of 13 en route to 22 points along with six rebounds and five blocks. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Jackson Academy still be able to contain Dampier, Jr.? There's only one way to find out.
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