Basketball Preview: New Covenant Gryphons vs. Temple Christian Crusaders
The New Covenant Gryphons will challenge the Temple Christian Crusaders at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Hopefully New Covenant focused on turnovers this week as the team gave up 32 on Tuesday.
Temple Christian is facing New Covenant at the wrong time: New Covenant suffered their first home loss of the season on Tuesday and they're likely out for redemption. They were beaten by the Eagles 50-8. The Gryphons have struggled against the Eagles recently, as the game was their sixth consecutive lost matchup.
Melia Leitner was New Covenant's leading scorer, having posted three points. Leitner also led the team in rebounds with eight.
Meanwhile, Temple Christian can finally bid farewell to their five-game losing streak dating back to last season thanks to their game on Tuesday. They came out on top against Roanoke Valley Christian by a score of 27-20.
Temple Christian's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Emily DeStafano, who scored eight points in addition to 17 rebounds, and Alyssa Conner, who had 13 points. That makes it three consecutive games in which Conner has scored at least a third of Temple Christian's points.
New Covenant's defeat dropped their record down to 2-2. As for Temple Christian, their victory (their first of the season) made their record 1-2.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: New Covenant has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 29.2 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Temple Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 29.3. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
New Covenant didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Temple Christian in their previous matchup back in February, but they still walked away with a 40-34 win. Does New Covenant have another victory up their sleeve, or will Temple Christian turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
