On the night of Friday, December 5^th, both RMA varsity basketball teams traveled a short distance to compete against in-town rival Faith Christian. Right off Thanksgiving break, the Eagles competed in three games in a one week span. Both the boys and the girls looked to finish a long and tiring week with a solid win over the Patriots, and that they did. The RMA v. FCS games are some of the most highly anticipated of the season, and both teams rose to the occasion with a vital wins on the road.

The Lady Eagles had control of the floor from the first possession; showing the Patriots that they were in for a long game. Point guard, Julia High, moved the ball around with powerful passes to the posts for easy points. The Eagles’ fast paced offense left the Patriots out of breath which created holes in their zone defense. Senior Ann Claire Roberson was able to take advantage of the lax defense at hand to put up easy points for the team. With 19 points, Ann Claire showed that she is clearly a force to be reckoned with; the Patriots just could not keep up with her. The Eagles’ success was clearly seen in their defense as well. Senior Catherine Coats and junior Emma Grace Sprinkle worked seamlessly to seal off the paint that resulted in multiple Patriot turnovers. It seemed as though RMA never spent much time on the defense. Aggressive rebounding and multiple stolen passes by junior Katie Gutshall helped keep the ball in Patriot territory for the majority of the game. The final score of the girls’ game was 46-17. As the Lady Eagles swept their rival for an important conference win, they improved their overall record to 4-1. It’s safe to say that the girls have a promising season ahead of them as they become more accustom to working with one another.

Directly after the Lady Eagles left the court with a win, the RMA’s very own varsity boys took the court in search of a win for themselves. Early in the game, the Eagles made it clear that they were not messing around. With four consecutive intercepted passes within the first three minutes of play, the Patriots quickly found themselves losing 11-1. Faith Christian could not find their way around sophomore AJ Mitchell and junior Jacob Hunter as the two players kept the Patriot point guard towards half court and away from any potential players for an easy pass. This aggressive style of defense frustrated Faith’s offense which resulted in a high number of turnovers. However, things quickly got out of hand for the Eagles. Sloppy passes and failure to rebound allowed Faith to come within single digits of the lead. As the first half came to a close, the Eagles had lost their comfortable lead. However, tensions only rose between the two teams as they entered the third quarter. The referees were calling anything and everything; both teams found themselves in foul trouble right off the bat. RMA proved to everyone that they play well under pressure, as junior Brendan Acker sunk a couple of three pointers to get the Patriots off their back. Senior, and team captain, Zach Fulcher also contributed to the increasing lead with crucial assists and points. As the fourth quarter came, it was clear that RMA was going to come away with a win. When the final buzzer sounded the score was 71-52. Brendan Acker led the team with 17 points. He was closely followed by Jacob Hunter’s 16 points and Zach Fulcher’s 13 points. This win was an honest team effort, as every player contributed in some way on the court. With this rival win, the Eagles advance to 2-2 thus far this season. “We are just now putting all the pieces together and learning all our plays. We are only getting better, there’s a lot of talent on our team this year.”, says Brendan Acker when asked about the big picture for this years’ season

RMA has clearly been established as a major force in this new conference. Both the boys and the girls are showing promising signs for a successful season. Be sure to come out to the homecoming game on FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12^th as both teams look for a conference win against the Epiphany School. Come out in red, white, and blue and support RMA!