The Roanoke Catholic Celtics pushed their score all the way to 57 on Thursday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They received a tough blow as they fell 74-57 to New Covenant. While losing is never fun, Roanoke Catholic can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Virginia basketball rankings (they are ranked 243rd, while New Covenant is ranked 59th).
Roanoke Catholic's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Avery Johnson, who scored 13 points along with six rebounds and four steals, and Jayden Johnson who scored 16 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Johnson has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Jalen Merchant, who scored seven points along with seven rebounds.
Even though they lost, Roanoke Catholic smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as New Covenant only pulled down five offensive rebounds.
Douglas Powell was his usual excellent self, scoring 23 points along with nine rebounds and three blocks for New Covenant. Cole Murdock was another key contributor, scoring 16 points.
This is the second loss in a row for Roanoke Catholic and nudges their season record down to 4-12. As for New Covenant, the victory makes it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 13-2.
Roanoke Catholic won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Life Christian Academy at 5:30 p.m. on January 26th. Life Christian Academy is coming into the contest on a four-game losing streak. As for New Covenant, they will head out on the road to face off against Carlisle at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Carlisle will be looking to keep their three-game home win streak alive.
