The John Carroll Patriots and the St. Anthony's Friars will face off at 3:15 p.m. on December 28th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
John Carroll had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 17 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Saturday. It was close, but they ultimately received the gift of a 41-39 victory from a begrudging Patriotssquad. The win was all the more spectacular given their disadvantage in MaxPreps's basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 64th in Maryland, while Archbishop Alter is ranked fifth in Ohio).
Meanwhile, St. Anthony's had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 11.3 points), and they went ahead and made it four last Sunday. They enjoyed a cozy 50-36 win over Eagle Academy III. Despite the victory, that was the fewest points St. Anthony's has scored all season.
It was another big night for Chris Welling, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and ten rebounds. Those ten rebounds set a new season-high mark for him. Another player making a difference was Nicolas Vieux, who scored ten points along with three steals.
John Carroll has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 7-4 record this season. As for St. Anthony's, their win was their fourth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 5-1.
