The St. Petersburg Catholic Barons fought the good fight in their overtime contest against the Clearwater Central Catholic Marauders on Tuesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Marauders by a score of 53-51. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest defeat St. Petersburg Catholic has suffered yet this season.
Loss or not, St. Petersburg Catholic got some senior leadership from Nick Berry and Tj Newton. Berry dropped a double-double on 20 points and 16 rebounds, while Newton. scored 12 points along with six rebounds. Berry is on a roll when it comes to rebounds, as he's now pulled down eight or more in the last nine games he's played.
Clearwater Central Catholic's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Gio Sciandra, who scored 16 points. Maxwell Messa was another key contributor, scoring 16 points along with seven rebounds.
St. Petersburg Catholic's defeat was their fifth straight at home, which bumped their record down to 3-11. As for Clearwater Central Catholic, the victory was the third in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 12-5.
St. Petersburg Catholic will head out on the road to challenge Neumann at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. As for Clearwater Central Catholic, they will look to defend their home court on Thursday against Northside Christian at 7:30 p.m. Northside Christian has now lost nine straight, and the team is hunting for their first win since December 5.
