The St. John Paul II Academy Eagles pushed their score all the way to 60 on Monday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They had to suffer through a rough 88-60 loss at the hands of North Tampa Christian Academy. While losing is never fun, St. John Paul II Academy can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 224th, while North Tampa Christian Academy is ranked 30th).
St. John Paul II Academy lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Carl Bien-aime, who scored 13 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Bien-aime has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Rowan Linder, who scored 14 points.
Leading North Tampa Christian Academy to victory were Landyn Colyer and Toni Bryant. Colyer scored 25 points along with five steals and two blocks, while Bryant almost dropped a triple-double on 22 points, 11 rebounds, and nine blocks. Bryant is absolutely dominating the block category: he's posted at least two every time he's taken the court this season. Ezekiel UDOZORH was another key contributor, scoring 11 points along with seven rebounds and three steals.
St. John Paul II Academy's defeat dropped their record down to 8-8. As for North Tampa Christian Academy, the win was the third in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 17-2.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. St. John Paul II Academy will take on Somerset Academy - Canyons at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Somerset Academy - Canyons has now lost eight straight, and the team is hunting for their first win since December 15. North Tampa Christian Academy on the road again on Wednesday and play against Vanguard at 7:30 p.m. on January 17th. Hopefully Vanguard focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 11 on Monday.
