Basketball Game Preview: St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders vs. Gateway Charter Griffins

The St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders will head out to face off against the Gateway Charter Griffins at 8:20 p.m. on Saturday. St. Thomas Aquinas knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past three contests -- so hopefully Gateway Charter likes a good challenge.

St. Thomas Aquinas is headed into the matchup after thoroughly thrashing Cardinal Gibbons: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that St. Thomas Aquinas blew Cardinal Gibbons out of the water with a 75-39 final score. The Raiders pushed the score to 65-32 by the end of the third, a deficit the Chiefs had no chance of recovering from.

St. Thomas Aquinas relied on the efforts of Dwayne Wimbley Jr., who went 7 for 12 on his way to 18 points in addition to seven boards and three steals, and Lunden Knights, who made all 6 shots he took to post 15 points. Those 15 points gave Knights a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Clarence Westbrook Jr., who posted 12 points and seven rebounds.

Meanwhile, Gateway Charter didn't have too much trouble with Fort Myers on Friday as they won 76-60. Given the Griffins' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 15th, while the Green Wave are ranked 564th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Gateway Charter's win was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 7-1. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 75.1 points per game. As for St. Thomas Aquinas, their record is now 4-1.

St. Thomas Aquinas strolled past Gateway Charter in their previous matchup back in November of 2023 by a score of 57-43. Will St. Thomas Aquinas repeat their success, or does Gateway Charter have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.