Two dominant in alyssa cevera and Morgan Himes are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The St. John Fighting Herald's homestand continues as they prepare to take on the Maplewood Rockets at 5:30 p.m. on January 29th. Maplewood took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on St. John, who comes in off a win.
St. John scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Monday. They claimed a resounding 63-32 win over Harding at home. St. John has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five games by 31 points or more this season.
St. John relied on the efforts of cevera, who dropped a double-double on 23 points and 14 rebounds, and Mickey Zheng, who scored 14 points along with eight assists and six steals. That makes it six consecutive games in which cevera has scored at least a third of St. John's points. Alexa Jordan was another key contributor, scoring 12 points along with three steals.
Meanwhile, Maplewood came up short against Brookfield on Saturday and fell 43-33. The result shouldn't come as a shock considering that's the fewest points Maplewood has scored all season.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Madyson Cikosh, who scored ten points along with nine rebounds. She has been hot recently, having posted eight or more rebounds the last four times she's played.
Maplewood struggled to work together and finished the game with only an assist. That's the fewest assists they've managed all season.
St. John's win bumped their record up to 6-9. As for Maplewood, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 9-6.
Monday's match is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: St. John have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 25.6 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Maplewood struggles in that department as they've been averaging 28.4 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
St. John skirted past Maplewood 36-33 when the teams last played back in December of 2022. Will St. John repeat their success, or does Maplewood have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
