The Pine Knights will take on the John Carroll Catholic Rams at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams have allowed few points on average, (Pine: 28.3, John Carroll Catholic: 28.9) so any points scored will be well earned.
Last Friday, Pine was able to grind out a solid win over Jupiter Christian, taking the game 43-34.
Pine had a senior duo take command as Emily Shirk dropped a double-double on 24 points and 13 boards and Amber Dunlap went 7 of 10 on her way to 14 points along with five rebounds and three steals. That makes it seven consecutive games in which Shirk has scored at least a third of Pine's points. Another player making a difference was Anna Shirk, who posted no points and four steals.
Pine smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 12 offensive boards in five consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, John Carroll Catholic came tearing into Monday's contest with seven straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 26.7 points) and they left with even more momentum. They walked away with a 47-40 victory over the Panthers.
John Carroll Catholic found their leader in freshman Olivia Laughlin, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 12 rebounds. Laughlin has been hot, having posted ten or more boards the last five times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Madi Burrowes, who had 11 points in addition to six rebounds and three steals.
Pine has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 13-3 record this season. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 27.6 points per game. As for John Carroll Catholic, they pushed their record up to 14-4 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Pine has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 35.9 rebounds per game. However, it's not like John Carroll Catholic struggles in that department as they've been averaging 32.2 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Pine skirted past John Carroll Catholic 42-39 in their previous meeting back in December of 2023. Will Pine repeat their success, or does John Carroll Catholic have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
