Basketball Game Preview: DeKalb Barons vs. Lakewood Park Christian Panthers

The DeKalb Barons will venture away from home to face off against the Lakewood Park Christian Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday.

DeKalb is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 62 points back in December of 2024, they were much more limited against Norwell two weeks ago. They took a hard 40-22 fall against the Knights. While losing is never fun, the Barons can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 91st, while the Knights are ranked 18th).

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Lakewood Park Christian). They claimed a resounding 72-12 victory over Hamilton. The Panthers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five contests by 20 points or more this season.

DeKalb better keep an eye on Ava McGrade. She was instrumental in Lakewood Park Christian's win, going 6 for 10 from beyond the arc on her way to 42 points in addition to seven assists and seven boards. The dominant performance gave McGrade a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Lilia West, who posted 11 points and seven steals.

Lakewood Park Christian was working as a unit and finished the game with 18 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.

Lakewood Park Christian is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last nine matches, which provided a nice bump to their 9-3 record this season. As for DeKalb, they moved to 8-4 with that defeat, which also ended their four-game winning streak.

DeKalb strolled past Lakewood Park Christian when the teams last played back in December of 2023 by a score of 48-30. The rematch might be a little tougher for DeKalb since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.