The Blue Ridge Barons on the road again on Tuesday and play against the St. Anne's-Belfield Saints at 6:00 p.m. on January 23rd. Blue Ridge knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past nine matches -- so hopefully St. Anne's-Belfield likes a good challenge.
Blue Ridge pushed their score all the way to 77 on Sunday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell 87-77 to NC GBB Academy National. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their last game on Saturday (64), Blue Ridge still had to take the loss.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the most dominant came from Kamren Martin, who scored 12 points along with six assists and five rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Shanon Simango, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and ten rebounds.
Meanwhile, St. Anne's-Belfield entered their tilt with Shabach Christian Academy with seven consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with eight. St. Anne's-Belfield narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past Shabach Christian Academy 59-56. Given St. Anne's-Belfield's advantage in MaxPreps's basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked second in Virginia, while Shabach Christian Academy is ranked 31st in Maryland), the result on Sunday wasn't entirely unexpected.
St. Anne's-Belfield's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Austin Williford, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and ten rebounds, and Chance Mallory, who dropped a double-double on 20 points and ten rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Williford has scored all season. Gabriel D?alessandro was another key contributor, scoring 11 points along with six rebounds and five assists.
Blue Ridge's defeat dropped their record down to 14-5. As for St. Anne's-Belfield, their win bumped their record up to 14-3.
This contest is shaping up to be a blowout: Blue Ridge hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having only averaged 74.9 points per game. It's a different story for St. Anne's-Belfield, though, as they've been averaging only 73.4 points per game. The only thing between Blue Ridge and another offensive beatdown is St. Anne's-Belfield. Will they be able to keep them contained?
Blue Ridge opened the new year with a less-than-successful 82-72 defeat to St. Anne's-Belfield. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Mallory, who dropped a double-double on 31 points and 15 rebounds. Now that Blue Ridge knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
