The Sankofa Freedom Academy Warriors are taking a road trip to face off against Murrell Dobbins Vo-Tech at 3:15 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Sankofa Freedom Academy sitting on three straight victories and Murrell Dobbins Vo-Tech on four.
Sankofa Freedom Academy is headed into the game after thoroughly thrashing Mastery Charter North - Pickett: they outscored them in every quarter. Everything went Sankofa Freedom Academy's way against Mastery Charter North - Pickett on Tuesday as Sankofa Freedom Academy made off with a 65-41 win. Given the Warriors' advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 131st, while the Pumas are ranked 376th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Sankofa Freedom Academy's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Nafis Dubose, who went 7-for-12 on his way to 17 points and eight rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Sammad West, who went 5-for-8 to rack up 11 points along with seven boards and five blocks.
Sankofa Freedom Academy was working as a unit and finished the game with 15 assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in three consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Murrell Dobbins Vo-Tech was able to grind out a solid win over Overbrook on Tuesday, taking the game 65-56.
Murrell Dobbins Vo-Tech's win came from a few key players Sankofa Freedom Academy will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Makaii Akridge, who went 9-for-18 en route to 19 points. His afternoon made it 11 games in a row in which he has scored at least 17 points. Another player making a difference was Jarrell Little, who posted 16 points.
Murrell Dobbins Vo-Tech pushed their record up to 14-10 with the victory, which was their sixth straight at home. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.3 points over those games. As for Sankofa Freedom Academy, their record now sits at 14-9.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Sankofa Freedom Academy has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 28 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Murrell Dobbins Vo-Tech struggles in that department as they've been averaging 31.7 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Sankofa Freedom Academy couldn't quite finish off Murrell Dobbins Vo-Tech when the teams last played back in January and fell 57-55. Can Sankofa Freedom Academy avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
