Basketball Game Preview: Immanuel Christian Warriors vs. Christ Chapel Academy

The Immanuel Christian Warriors will take on Christ Chapel Academy in a holiday battle at at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both have had a bumpy ride up to this point with four consecutive losses for Immanuel Christian and three for Christ Chapel Academy.

Last Tuesday, Immanuel Christian was beaten by Trinity Christian 78-35. While losing is never fun, the Warriors can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Virginia basketball rankings (they are ranked 291st, while the Gryphons are ranked 138th).

Meanwhile, Christ Chapel Academy played a tough game on Tuesday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They might be feeling deja-vu: they lost 83-47 to Veritas Collegiate Academy, which was the same score (and result) they got the week prior. Christ Chapel Academy was in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 47-16.

Immanuel Christian will have to contain David Neaves as he made an impact in Christ Chapel Academy's last game. He went 11 of 24 en route to 30 points. That was a full 63.8% of Christ Chapel Academy's points, marking the sixth time in a row he's posted more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Alie Bangura, who put up eight points along with eight boards and five blocks.

Immanuel Christian's loss dropped their record down to 1-5. As for Christ Chapel Academy, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-5.

Immanuel Christian beat Christ Chapel Academy 67-56 when the teams last played back in February. The rematch might be a little tougher for Immanuel Christian since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.