The Johnson Pumas will be home for the holidays to greet the ITW David Speer Academy Pride at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Johnson scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Tuesday. They blew past Pritzker 79-21 at home. That looming 79-21 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for Johnson yet this season.
Johnson relied on the efforts of Destiny Taylor, who dropped a double-double on 30 points and 18 rebounds, and Le'Andra Hill, who almost dropped a triple-double on 36 points, 11 rebounds, and nine steals. That makes it five consecutive games in which Taylor has scored at least 25% of Johnson's points. Another player making a difference was Kaylynn Arnold, who scored seven points along with seven rebounds.
Meanwhile, ITW David Speer Academy got the win against UIC College Prep on Wednesday by a conclusive 37-11. Given ITW David Speer Academy's advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 133rd, while UIC College Prep is ranked 454th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Johnson is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 7-3 record this season. As for ITW David Speer Academy, they pushed their record up to 7-1 with that victory, which was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season.
Things could have been worse for Johnson, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 46-32 loss to ITW David Speer Academy when the teams last played back in December of 2017. Will Johnson have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get analysis of the match and other basketball content.