Having just played yesterday, the Heritage Academy Gateway Heroes will head out on the road to face off against ASU Prep Poly at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Having both just faced considerable losses, both teams are looking to turn things around.
Heritage Academy Gateway is headed into the contest out to prove that what happened against East Valley Athletes for Christ on Monday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Heritage Academy Gateway took a blow against East Valley Athletes for Christ, falling 67-38. The Heroes have struggled against the Eagles recently, as the game was their seventh consecutive lost matchup.
Defeat or not, Heritage Academy Gateway got some senior leadership from Talon Lemieux and Ephraim Smith. Lemieux posted eight points and eight rebounds, while Smith put up nine points.
Meanwhile, ASU Prep Poly was not able to break out of their rough patch last Monday as the team picked up their fifth straight loss. They were beaten by Eduprize 89-45. While losing is never fun, ASU Prep Poly can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 253rd, while Eduprize is ranked 17th).
Heritage Academy Gateway will have to contain Justin Hudson as he made an impact in ASU Prep Poly's last game. He went 8 of 20 on his way to 23 points and five steals. That was a full 51.1% of ASU Prep Poly's points, marking the fifth time in a row he's had more than a third of the team's points.
ASU Prep Poly's defeat dropped their record down to 1-5. As for Heritage Academy Gateway, they now have a losing record at 2-3.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Heritage Academy Gateway has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 28.2 boards per game. However, it's not like ASU Prep Poly struggles in that department as they've been averaging 24.8 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Heritage Academy Gateway barely slipped by ASU Prep Poly in their previous matchup back in January, winning 47-46. The rematch might be a little tougher for Heritage Academy Gateway since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
