The Mesa Jackrabbits will be playing in front of their home fans against the Salpointe Catholic Lancers at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Mesa will be coming into the matchup with an undefeated record on the line.
Even though Desert Ridge scored an imposing 55 points on Tuesday, Mesa still came out on top. Mesa took their game against Desert Ridge 62-55. Given Mesa's advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked first, while Desert Ridge is ranked 186th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Conway Cummard was the offensive standout of the game as he scored 16 points along with 8 assists and 7 rebounds. Anthony Seumanu was another key contributor, scoring 12 points along with 8 rebounds.
Meanwhile, it may have taken overtime to finish the job, but Salpointe Catholic ultimately got the result they hoped for on Monday. They escaped with a win against Tucson High Magnet School by the margin of a single free throw, 50-49. Winning is a bit easier when you work as a team to rack up seven more assists than your opponent, as Salpointe Catholic did.
Joey Castillo and Ben Aronson were among the main playmakers for Salpointe Catholic as the former scored 9 points along with 6 rebounds and the latter scored 11 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Bobby Smith, who scored 8 points.
Mesa's victory bumped their record up to 7-0. As for Salpointe Catholic, they have been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 6-2 record this season.
Thursday's match is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Mesa have been dynamite from deep this season, having drained 42.6% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Salpointe Catholic struggles in that department as they've made 40.5% of theirs this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Come back here after the game to get analysis of the match and other basketball content.
Mesa was able to grind out a solid win over Salpointe Catholic in their previous matchup back in December of 2022, winning 55-47. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Salpointe Catholic's Canyon Torres, who scored 18 points. Now that he won't be playing on Thursday, will it be that much easier for Mesa to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
