Aquinas is on a six-game streak of home wins, while the Knights are on a five-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Aquinas Falcons will take on the Ontario Christian Knights at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Last Tuesday, Aquinas blew past the Eagles, posting a 58-14 victory on the road. Given Aquinas' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 125th, while the Eagles are ranked 404th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Breanna Bates continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, scoring 24 points along with five rebounds and four steals. She has been hot recently, having posted 17 or more points the last four times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Madeleine De Kodia, who scored 15 points along with five assists and four steals.
Meanwhile, a well-balanced attack led Ontario Christian over the Huskies in every quarter on their way to victory on Wednesday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Ontario Christian blew the Huskies out of the water with a 87-46 final score. With Ontario Christian ahead 45-21 at the half, the game was all but over already.
Ontario Christian's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Karsen Marshall, who dropped a double-double on 25 points and 12 rebounds, and Kaleena Smith, who shot 9-for-18 from downtown and dropped a double-double on 41 points and ten assists. Smith is on a roll when it comes to points, as she's now scored 24 or more in the last 18 games she's played. Another player making a difference was Amanda Ajobiewe, who scored 13 points along with four steals.
Aquinas is on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last ten contests, which provided a nice bump to their 21-6 record this season. As for Ontario Christian, their victory bumped their record up to 24-3.
Friday's match will pit two of the most dominant guards against one another: Bates and Smith. Bates has been dynamite this season: she has averaged 18.2 points, 1.6 steals, and 6.3 rebounds. For her part, Smith has averaged 35.3 points, 4.3 steals, and 6.5 assists.
Aquinas was dealt a bruising 85-38 defeat at the hands of the Knights in their previous meeting back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Smith, who went 9 for 14 from beyond the arc en route to 42 points and 7 assists. Now that Aquinas knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
