Munroe is 8-2 against St. John Paul II since January of 2021, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Saturday. The Munroe Bobcats will face off against the St. John Paul II Panthers at 7:00 p.m. One thing working in Munroe's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last six matches.
Munroe had already proven themselves in the regular season, and didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. They enjoyed a cozy 86-68 win over FAMU DRS on Thursday. Given Munroe's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 280th, while FAMU DRS is ranked 637th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Munroe had a senior duo take command as Leith Kenon dropped a double-double on 17 points and 11 rebounds and Karlton Knight scored 20 points along with four steals. Kenon hasn't dropped below 15 points for seven straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Zelden Chukes, who scored seven points along with six rebounds and three steals.
Meanwhile, St. John Paul II didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against North Florida Christian on Thursday, but they still walked away with a 53-48 victory. The win made it back-to-back wins for St. John Paul II.
St. John Paul II's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Cayden King led the charge by scoring 23 points along with three steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points King has scored all season. Mario Forbes was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on 15 points and 19 rebounds.
Munroe's victory bumped their record up to 16-8. As for St. John Paul II, their victory bumped their record up to 12-13.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Munroe have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 40.1 rebounds per game. However, it's not like St. John Paul II struggles in that department as they've been averaging 34 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Munroe came up short against St. John Paul II in their previous meeting back in January, falling 55-51. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Forbes, who dropped a double-double on 23 points and 25 rebounds. Now that Munroe knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
