The Tampa Catholic Crusaders came tearing into Saturday's matchup with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 4.7 points) and they left with even more momentum. They managed a 47-41 victory over Wharton. That's another feather in the cap for Tampa Catholic, who also won these teams' last head-to-head.
Tampa Catholic found their leader in underclassman Ashley Knox, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and ten rebounds. Khalia Woodley was another key contributor, scoring 16 points along with two steals.
Several Wildcats players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Tamara Bryant, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 12 rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Jayla Grady, who scored 12 points along with six rebounds and four steals.
Tampa Catholic is on a roll lately: they've won ten of their last 11 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 14-6 record this season. As for Wharton, their defeat ended a six-game streak of away wins and brought them to 14-1.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Tampa Catholic will face off against Brookwood at 1:10 p.m. on Monday. Brookwood will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in their respective state's rankings (they are ranked 249th in Georgia, while Tampa Catholic is ranked 65th in Florida). As for Wharton, they will head out on the road to face off against Lennard at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
