On Thursday, the Varsity teams traveled across town to take on their rivals, the Patriots of Faith Christian. With the newspaper there to cover the game and the local television on hand to film, the stage was set for the final meeting of the season in this heated rivalry.

The Varsity Girls took the court first, looking to remain a contender in the race for the top 2A team and a chance to earn a state bid. The game started out chippy, with many fouls and reckless plays, and remained physical the rest of the game. Head Coach Brent Acker said the game reminded him “of an old Big East matchup, where both teams go out there, play physical, and play strong defense.” This was the case Thursday, as the Eagles pulled out the tough win, 35-25, behind Senior Allison Barnes’, who played her last rivalry game versus Faith, 12 points, and Sophomore Madison Glover’s 8.

After the girls, the Varsity Boys took the court, looking for their 22nd straight conference win dating back to last year. The energy was tense as RMA looked to secure the regular season championship and Faith Christian looked to play spoiler. After the tip, the Eagles started out sluggish, not playing aggressive defense and failing to take advantage on the offensive end. The Eagles found themselves down 15-12 at the end of the first. Luckily, things began to change in the second quarter, as the Eagles found their inner fire and went on a 17-4 run thanks to tightening up their defense and getting out on the fast break. When asked what happened in the second quarter, Junior guard AJ Mitchell responded “We are a fast break team. We play best when we can get out and run and fill our lanes.” After a solid response in the second quarter, the Patriots went on another run at the beginning of the 3rd quarter, cutting the lead down to 6 by starting out on a Box and 1 on Mitchell. RMA was able to find success down low, as Seniors Brendan Acker and Kyle Holland began working in the post and finding their High-Low game that has been deadly all season. The Eagles were able to pull out the win, 71-50, behind Sophomore Elijah McCadden’s 21, AJ Mitchell’s 20, and Brendan Acker’s 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Both Varsity teams wrap up the regular season at home this week with games against Village Christian on Tuesday and St. Thomas Moore on Thursday. Come out and support both teams as they continue to fight for a top seed in the conference tournament and look to make a run in states!