McCallie is 10-0 against Pope John Paul II since January of 2016, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The McCallie Blue Tornado will head out on the road to face off against the Pope John Paul II Knights at 7:00 p.m. McCallie is currently enjoying a perfect season and no doubt want to keep things rolling.
Last Tuesday, McCallie didn't have too much trouble with Notre Dame on the road as they won 48-29. Given McCallie's advantage in MaxPreps' Tennessee basketball rankings (they are ranked 34th, while Notre Dame is ranked 317th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
McCallie's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Kenneth Chime, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Parker Robison, who scored 18 points along with 5 steals. The contest was Robison's fourth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Ryan Wingard, who scored 8 points.
Meanwhile, after a string of seven wins, Pope John Paul II's good fortune finally ran out on Monday. They took a 73-69 hit to the loss column at the hands of Baylor. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Pope John Paul II in their matchups with Baylor: they've now lost six in a row.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Trey Pearson, who scored 17 points along with 7 rebounds and 5 assists. The team also got some help courtesy of Fred Bailey, who scored 23 points.
The opposite results left the teams with opposite records: McCallie's win pushed their record up to 7-0, while Notre Dame's loss dropped theirs down to 0-7.
Keep an eye on the arc in Friday's match: McCallie have made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having only averaged 6.4 threes per game. It's a different story for Pope John Paul II, though, as they've been averaging only 5.5 per game. Given McCallie's sizeable advantage in that area, Pope John Paul II will need to find a way to close that gap. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.
McCallie strolled past Pope John Paul II in their previous meeting back in December of 2019 by a score of 68-53. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Pope John Paul II's Sam Specht, who scored 19 points. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be that much easier for McCallie to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
