Layton Christian Academy is on a four-game streak of home wins, while Judge Memorial Catholic is on a three-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Layton Christian Academy Eagles will take on the Judge Memorial Catholic Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Even though Layton Christian Academy has not done well against Summit Academy recently (they were 0-5 in their previous five matchups), they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. Layton Christian Academy took down Summit Academy 52-33. Layton Christian Academy pushed the score to 43-19 by the end of the third, a deficit Summit Academy cut but never quite recovered from.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Layton Christian Academy to victory, but perhaps none more so than Asmin Tanhan, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and 12 rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Penelope Arroyo, who scored 15 points.
Meanwhile, Judge Memorial Catholic put the finishing touches on their 11th blowout victory of the season on Tuesday. They really took it to Juan Diego Catholic for the full four quarters, racking up a 65-33 win on the road. Given Judge Memorial Catholic's advantage in MaxPreps' Utah basketball rankings (they are ranked 36th, while Juan Diego Catholic is ranked 125th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Judge Memorial Catholic's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Elyah Ocampo led the charge by scoring 25 points along with seven steals. Ocampo hasn't dropped below 19 points for six straight games. Makena Gardner was another key contributor, almost dropping a double-double on nine points and ten steals.
Layton Christian Academy now has a winning record of 11-10. As for Judge Memorial Catholic, they are on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last 11 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 15-7 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Layton Christian Academy have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 23.3 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Judge Memorial Catholic struggles in that department as they've been averaging 35.8 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Layton Christian Academy lost to Judge Memorial Catholic at home by a decisive 61-44 margin in their previous meeting back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Ocampo, who scored 23 points along with three steals. Now that Layton Christian Academy knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
