Cardinal Newman has been on the road for three straight, but on Friday they'll finally head home. The Cardinal Newman Cardinals and the Richland Northeast Cavaliers will face off at 5:30 p.m. on December 1st without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Last Sunday, Cardinal Newman didn't have too much trouble with Midland Valley on the road as they won 55-37.
Cardinal Newman's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Teonna Draughn, who scored 18 points along with 6 assists and 5 rebounds. That makes it three consecutive games in which Draughn has scored at least 25% of Cardinal Newman's points. Zara Thompson was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Meanwhile, winning is just a little bit easier when you work as a team to rack up 12 more assists than your opponent, a fact Richland Northeast proved last Tuesday. They walked away with a 60-48 win over Lugoff-Elgin. With that victory, Richland Northeast brought their scoring average up to 52 points per game.
Sasha Cebula was the offensive standout of the matchup as she dropped a double-double on 14 points and 11 rebounds. Another player making a difference was Zimarika Moorer, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 14 rebounds.
The losses dropped Cardinal Newman to 1-2 and Midland Valley to 0-2.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Cardinal Newman have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 34.3 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Richland Northeast struggles in that department as they've been even better at 36 per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more basketball content.
Cardinal Newman came up short against Richland Northeast in their previous meeting back in January of 2018, falling 50-41. Thankfully for Cardinal Newman, Sharita Godfrey (who scored 19 points along with 3 steals) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
