St. Mary is 0-10 against North Raleigh Christian Academy since January of 2018 but things could change on Friday. The St. Mary's Saints will host the North Raleigh Christian Academy Knights at 5:30 p.m. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
On Tuesday, St. Mary's needed a bit of extra time to put away Durham Academy. They came out on top in a nail-biter against the Cavaliers, sneaking past 47-45. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Saints have posted since December 3, 2024.
| 01/28/25 vs Durham Academy | 17 |
| 01/16/25 vs Ravenscroft | 14 |
| 01/17/25 vs American Leadership Academy-Johnston | 13 |
| 12/17/24 @ American Leadership Academy-Johnston | 9 |
| 01/09/25 @ Durham Academy | 8 |
St. Mary's can attribute much of their success to Molly Sather, who posted 17 points in addition to five rebounds and four steals, and Janelle Gyampo, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 12 boards. The dominant performance gave Sather a new career-high in points. Another player making a difference was Mary Marshall Rankin, who earned five points.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for North Raleigh Christian Academy, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Friday. They enjoyed a cozy 70-51 victory over Ravenscroft on Tuesday. With that win, the Knights brought their scoring average up to 50.8 points per game.
St. Mary's better keep an eye on Khloe Moye. She was instrumental in North Raleigh Christian Academy's win, shooting 4-for-6 from long range and dropping a double-double on 40 points and ten boards. That makes it five consecutive games in which Moye has scored at least a third of North Raleigh Christian Academy's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Presley Ray, who put up eight points and nine rebounds.
North Raleigh Christian Academy's victory was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 10-9. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 59.8 points per game. As for St. Mary's, their win was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-4 and their overall record up to 11-6.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: St. Mary's has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 32.7 boards per game. However, it's not like North Raleigh Christian Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 31.9 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
St. Mary's suffered a grim 58-37 defeat to North Raleigh Christian Academy in their previous meeting on January 14th. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Moye, who almost dropped a triple-double on 29 points, nine boards, and 11 steals. Now that St. Mary's knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
