Basketball Recap: Dwyer Comes Up Short

It was a proper cat-fight when Dwyer challenged Fairfax Christian on Friday. The Dwyer Panthers were just a bucket shy of victory and fell 60-59 to the Fairfax Christian Cardinals. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 156th in Florida, while the Cardinals are ranked 49th in Virginia).

Dwyer lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being JORDAN QUINCE, who almost dropped a double-double on 16 points and nine boards. QUINCE's evening made it three games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. ANTHONY GATLIN was another key player, dropping a double-double on 11 points and ten rebounds.

Even though they lost, Dwyer smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive rebounds in five consecutive matches.

Fairfax Christian found their leader in sophomore Jeremiah Stanford, who went 10 of 16 on his way to 32 points and five rebounds. With that strong performance, Stanford is now averaging an impressive 15.2 points per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Frank Siaca Bey, who went 7 of 11 on his way to 14 points and six rebounds.

Dwyer has been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four games, which put a noticeable dent in their 7-6 record this season. That patch can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 67.5 points per game. As for Fairfax Christian, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a nice bump to their 6-4 record this season.

Dwyer wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next match, an 80-55 defeat against Providence Day on the 28th. As for Fairfax Christian, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next game, a 61-58 loss against Chaminade-Madonna on the 28th.