The Air Academy Kadets were the 56-45 winner over the Doherty Spartans when they last played one another back in January of 2023, but their luck changed this time around. Air Academy took a 66-55 hit to the loss column at the hands of Doherty on Friday. Air Academy has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Max Howery and Noah Hellem certainly did their best on Friday to try and avoid the loss. Howery scored 27 points along with four steals, while Hellem scored 23 points along with six rebounds. Hellem scored a full 41.8% of Air Academy's points, the tenth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points.
Doherty was led to victory by Solomon Latimer and Elijah Mack. Latimer scored 16 points along with nine rebounds, while Mack scored 18 points along with six assists and five rebounds. That's the first time this season that Latimer scored 15 or more points. Brayden Unseth was another key contributor, scoring eight points.
Air Academy has fallen quite a ways from their 25-3 record last season and are now at 3-7. As for Doherty, the victory (which was their fourth in a row) raised their record to 6-4.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Air Academy will take on Pueblo South at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. As for Doherty, they have the luxury of staying home another game and will welcome ThunderRidge at 7:00 p.m. on January 9th. ThunderRidge will be looking to extend their current seven-game winning streak.
