The Roanoke Catholic Celtics's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Wednesday after their sixth straight loss. They fell 86-74 to Rustburg. While losing is never fun, Roanoke Catholic can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Virginia basketball rankings (they are ranked 245th, while Rustburg is ranked 27th).
Several Celtics players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Jalen Merchant , who scored 25 points along with six assists. Those six assists set a new season-high mark for him. The team also got some help courtesy of Demarcus Brown, who scored 28 points.
Roanoke Catholic's loss was their fourth straight at home, which bumped their record down to 1-6. That rough patch can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 62.8 points per game. As for Rustburg, the win for they keeps them at an undefeated 8-0.
Coincidentally, Roanoke Catholic and Rustburg will both be playing Northside the next time they take the court. Roanoke Catholic will host Northside at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, while Rustburg will head out to face them at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday.
