It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact St. Francis can now relate to. They fell 64-52 to The Park School of Buffalo Pioneers on Thursday. Unfortunately, that's the third time they've come up short against the Pioneers this season, with their most recent loss being a 76-69 defeat back in January.
Andrew Lindstrom and Matthew Zielinski certainly did their best on Thursday to avoid the loss. Lindstrom went 9-for-22 on his way to 21 points and seven boards, while Zielinski went 7-for-14 to rack up 16 points. That was a full 40.4% of St. Francis' points, marking the third time in a row Lindstrom has posted more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Evan Noecker, who scored seven points.
Red Raiders
| 02/20/25 vs The Park School of Buffalo | 24 |
| 01/28/25 vs The Park School of Buffalo | 18 |
| 01/31/25 vs Akron | 17 |
| 12/14/24 vs Dunkirk | 17 |
| 01/15/25 @ Lackawanna | 16 |
Even though they lost, St. Francis smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 24 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive boards they've managed all season.
The Park School of Buffalo's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Jake Stuckey, who dropped a double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Stuckey has become a key player for The Park School of Buffalo: the team is 7-3 when he posts at least ten boards, but 6-9 otherwise. Marque Sudduth was another key player, putting up 14 points.
St. Francis has traveled a rocky road recently having lost ten of their last 11 matchups. That's put a noticeable dent in their 9-15 record this season. Those losses can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.5 points over those games. The victory (which was The Park School of Buffalo's fourth in a row) raised their record to 13-12.
St. Francis does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for The Park School of Buffalo, they will be staying on the road on Sunday to face off against Bishop Timon-St. Jude at 1:00 p.m. Averaging 74.54 points so far this season, Bishop Timon-St. Jude's high-powered offense has been in full-swing lately, so The Park School of Buffalo better be ready for a challenge.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
