Two dominant guards in Jermaine Council and Collin Jefferson are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Cardinal Newman Crusaders will square off against the John Carroll Catholic Rams at TBD on Thursday. Cardinal Newman has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 755 points over their last ten matches.
Cardinal Newman stacked a tenth blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Thursday. They really took it to Benjamin for the full four quarters, racking up a 77-46 win at home. The final score was a far cry from the score of their previous head-to-head, which saw the teams combine for 52 points.
Cardinal Newman's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Alex Grande, who scored 16 points along with five rebounds and five steals. Grande has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last three times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Council, who scored 19 points along with three steals.
Meanwhile, it can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but John Carroll Catholic had no problem doing just that on Tuesday. They blew past the Hurricanes 69-46.
Cardinal Newman pushed their record up to 20-5 with that win, which was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season. They've been dominating during the contests in that stretch too, as they've won by an average of 29.2 points. As for John Carroll Catholic, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a massive bump to their 11-15 record this season.
Everything came up roses for Cardinal Newman against John Carroll Catholic in their previous matchup back in December of 2023 as the team secured a 74-43 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Cardinal Newman since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
