Pius X has been on the road for two straight, but on Friday they'll finally head home. They will take on the Grand Island Islanders at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Pius X knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past 12 matches -- so hopefully Grand Island likes a good challenge.
Pius X can now show off five landslide victories after their most recent contest on Tuesday. They breezed by Norfolk on the road to the tune of 72-30. That looming 72-30 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for Pius X yet this season.
Pius X's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Michael Haith, who scored 17 points, and Kellan Humm, who went 6 for 9 from beyond the arc en route to 18 points and 2 assists. Haith continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Drew Drake, who scored six points along with two steals.
Meanwhile, Grand Island's recent rough patch got a bit rougher two weeks ago after their third straight loss. They fell to Lincoln Northeast 66-60. Even though they lost, Grand Island's still made a splash on offense and bumped their average scoring up to 50.6 points per game (they're now ranked -1th in scoring overall).
Mukadi Mukoma put forth a good effort for the losing side as he shot 4-for-6 from long range and dropped a double-double on 24 points and 15 rebounds. That's the first time this season that he pulled down eight or more rebounds. Another player making a difference was Jaxon Bernal, who scored ten points along with five assists.
Even though they lost, Grand Island were working as a unit and finished the game with 14 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Lincoln Northeast only posted seven assists.
Pius X pushed their record up to 8-4 with that win, which was their fifth straight on the road. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 70.6 points per game. As for Grand Island, their loss dropped their record down to 4-7.
Keep an eye on the arc in Friday's game: Pius X have made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having only averaged 6.5 threes per game. It's a different story for Grand Island, though, as they've been averaging only 5.5 threes per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Pius X was able to grind out a solid win over Grand Island when the teams last played back in January of 2023, winning 59-48. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Grand Island's Kazadi Mukoma jr, who scored 18 points along with six rebounds. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be that much easier for Pius X to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
