Two dominant in Morgan Himes and alyssa cevera are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Maplewood Rockets will head out on the road to take on the St. John Fighting Herald at 5:30 p.m. on Monday. Hopefully Maplewood focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 22 on Saturday.
Last Saturday, Maplewood came up short against Brookfield and fell 43-33. The result shouldn't come as a shock considering that's the fewest points Maplewood has scored all season.
Despite their loss, Maplewood saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Madyson Cikosh, who scored ten points along with nine rebounds, was perhaps the best of all. Cikosh hasn't dropped below eight rebounds for four straight games.
Maplewood struggled to work together and finished the game with only an assist. That's the fewest assists they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, St. John scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Monday. They blew past Harding, posting a 63-32 victory at home. The win was just what St. John needed coming off of a 63-36 defeat in their prior match.
St. John relied on the efforts of cevera, who dropped a double-double on 23 points and 14 rebounds, and Mickey Zheng, who scored 14 points along with eight assists and six steals. That makes it six consecutive games in which cevera has scored at least a third of St. John's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Alexa Jordan, who scored 12 points along with three steals.
This is the second loss in a row for Maplewood and nudges their season record down to 9-6. As for St. John, their victory bumped their record up to 6-9.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Maplewood have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 28.4 rebounds per game. However, it's not like St. John struggles in that department as they've been averaging 25.6 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Maplewood couldn't quite finish off St. John when the teams last played back in December of 2022 and fell 36-33. Can Maplewood avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
