The St. John Paul II Academy Eagles pushed their score all the way to 69 on Wednesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell to Cardinal Newman 75-69. The result was an unpleasant reminder to St. John Paul II Academy of the 57-56 loss they experienced in the two teams' previous head-to-head fixture back in January of 2023.
Cristian Rosado and Rowan Linder certainly did their best on Wednesday to try and avoid the loss. Rosado dropped a double-double on 27 points and ten rebounds, while Linder scored 20 points along with five rebounds and five steals. That's the first time this season that Rosado pulled down eight or more rebounds. Ian Astiazarain was another key contributor, scoring nine points.
St. John Paul II Academy's loss ended a six-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 10-10. As for Cardinal Newman, they pushed their record up to 16-5 with that victory, which was their seventh straight on the road.
St. John Paul II Academy will look to defend their home court on Wednesday against Somerset Academy Key at 7:00 p.m. Cardinal Newman's road trip will continue as they head out to face Sebastian River at 6:45 p.m. on January 26th. Sebastian River will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Florida Rankings (they are ranked 432nd, while Cardinal Newman is ranked 168th).
