Two dominant guards in Augustine Youssef and Chris Jones are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Desert Christian Academy Conquerors will head out on the road to take on the Santa Rosa Academy Rangers at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. Hopefully Desert Christian Academy focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up seven on Thursday.
Desert Christian Academy stacked a seventh blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard. They breezed by Nuview Bridge at home to the tune of 65-20. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest win Desert Christian Academy has posted since December 21, 2023.
Desert Christian Academy's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Jaden Herling, who scored 14 points along with four steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Joshua Brown, who scored 14 points along with six rebounds and two steals.
Meanwhile, Santa Rosa Academy pushed their score all the way to 60 on Thursday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a 72-60 hit to the loss column at the hands of Temecula Prep. Santa Rosa Academy's defeat signaled the end of their three-game winning streak.
Santa Rosa Academy's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Jones, who scored 20 points along with three steals, and Sawyer Strandt who scored 13 points along with seven rebounds and three steals. Jones has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last six times he's played. Kyzer Metz was another key contributor, scoring six points along with six rebounds.
Desert Christian Academy has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven matches, which provided a nice bump to their 16-7 record this season. As for Santa Rosa Academy, they now have a losing record at 12-13.
Keep an eye on the arc in Monday's matchup: Desert Christian Academy have been dynamite from deep this season, having drained 40.7% of their threes per game. It's a different story for Santa Rosa Academy, though, as they've only drained 36.2% of their threes per game this season. Given Desert Christian Academy's sizeable advantage in that area, Santa Rosa Academy will need to find a way to close that gap.
Desert Christian Academy took their victory against Santa Rosa Academy when the teams last played back in December of 2023 by a conclusive 75-54. The rematch might be a little tougher for Desert Christian Academy since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
