The St. Joseph Academy Flashes will face off against the Gateway Charter Griffins at 1:00 p.m. on Friday. St. Joseph Academy is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last four games.
St. Joseph Academy stacked a sixth blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Tuesday. They breezed by Global Outreach Charter Academy on the road to the tune of 54-12. Given St. Joseph Academy's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 209th, while Global Outreach Charter Academy is ranked 583rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead St. Joseph Academy to victory, but perhaps none more so than Kelly Cramer, who scored 25 points along with nine rebounds and two steals. Cramer has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last ten times she's played. Taninah Manning was another key contributor, scoring 13 points along with eight steals and five rebounds.
Gateway Charter suffered their biggest loss yet this season on Friday. They were dealt a 65-29 loss at the hands of Neumann. Gateway Charter was in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 43-20.
Despite the defeat, Gateway Charter saw an underclassman step up: Lizy Mendez scored eight points.
St. Joseph Academy's win bumped their record up to 11-5. As for Gateway Charter, their defeat dropped their record down to 9-4.
Friday's game is shaping up to be a scrappy matchup: St. Joseph Academy have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 25.9 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Gateway Charter, though, as they've been averaging only 12.5 rebounds per game. Given St. Joseph Academy's sizeable advantage in that area, Gateway Charter will need to find a way to close that gap. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
