Cardinal O'Hara is 1-9 against Canisius since December of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Cardinal O'Hara Hawks will head out on the road to face off against the Canisius Crusaders at 6:00 p.m. Cardinal O'Hara has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 316 points over their last five contests.
Cardinal O'Hara pushed their score all the way to 56 on Tuesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. The match between them and St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute wasn't particularly close, with Cardinal O'Hara falling 70-56. While losing is never fun, Cardinal O'Hara can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New York basketball rankings (they are ranked 458th, while St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute is ranked 99th).
Cardinal O'Hara might have lost, but man, Kels Ivey was a machine: he scored 21 points along with seven rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Cannon Dotson, who scored 14 points along with two blocks.
Meanwhile, Canisius entered their tilt with St. Francis with ten consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with 11. Canisius simply couldn't be stopped on Tuesday as they easily beat St. Francis 74-41 at home. Canisius has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight games by 24 points or more this season.
Patrick Cullinan continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, scoring 16 points along with five rebounds and four steals. He is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last three games he's played. Patrick Enright was another key contributor, scoring 12 points along with seven rebounds.
Cardinal O'Hara has not been sharp recently as the team's lost three of their last four games, which put a noticeable dent in their 7-11 record this season. As for Canisius, their win was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 16-2.
Friday's matchup is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Cardinal O'Hara have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 50.7% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Canisius struggles in that department as they've made 45.1% of their threes this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Cardinal O'Hara might still be hurting after the 78-54 defeat they got from Canisius in their previous matchup back in December of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Canisius' Nick Purdie, who dropped a double-double on 27 points and ten rebounds. Now that Cardinal O'Hara knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
