The St. James Academy Thunder will look to defend their home court on Tuesday against the Metro Academy Mavericks at 7:00 p.m. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: St. James Academy has struggled recently with five defeats in a row, while Metro Academy will arrive with three straight victories.
St. James Academy pushed their score all the way to 57 on Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a 63-57 hit to the loss column at the hands of Saint Thomas Aquinas. While losing is never fun, St. James Academy can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 222nd, while Saint Thomas Aquinas is ranked 29th).
Meanwhile, you can't lose the matchup if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Metro Academy's strategy against Mid-Missouri HomeSchool on Friday. Metro Academy strolled past Mid-Missouri HomeSchool with points to spare, taking the game 61-47.
St. James Academy's defeat was their third straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 2-15. That rough patch can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 52.0 points per game. As for Metro Academy, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 18-11 record this season.
St. James Academy was able to grind out a solid victory over Metro Academy in their previous matchup back in January of 2023, winning 67-58. Will St. James Academy repeat their success, or does Metro Academy have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
