Basketball Game Preview: Coastal Christian Centurions vs. John Paul II Catholic Saints

The Coastal Christian Centurions will head out on the road to square off against the John Paul II Catholic Saints at 5:15 p.m. on Tuesday.

Last Thursday, Coastal Christian came up short against Wayne Christian and fell 34-23. The loss continues a trend for the Centurions in their matchups with the Eagles: they've now lost three in a row.

Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Ellie Forrester, who posted nine points. Those nine points gave her a new career-high.

Meanwhile, John Paul II Catholic had already won seven in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 42.3 points) and they went ahead and made it eight on Monday. They took their game with ease, bagging a 60-11 win over the Heat. The Saints have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 11 matches by 26 points or more this season.

John Paul II Catholic's win came from a few key players Coastal Christian will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Aaliyah Hinnant, who went 6 of 13 on her way to 12 points and six steals. She has been hot recently, having posted five or more steals the last four times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Alicia Baumgartner, who went 6 of 10 on her way to 12 points and three steals.

John Paul II Catholic smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 12 offensive boards in three consecutive contests.

John Paul II Catholic pushed their record up to 15-1 with the victory, which was their fourth straight on the road. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 14.5 points per game. As for Coastal Christian, their defeat was their first in the conference, dropping their conference record down to 3-1 and their overall record down to 6-6.

Coastal Christian was dealt a bruising 54-13 loss at the hands of John Paul II Catholic in their previous matchup back in January of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of John Paul II Catholic's Ariana Atkinson, who had 12 points and six steals. Now that Coastal Christian knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.