Basketball Recap: Harding Academy Has No Trouble Against Lakeside

Harding Academy's tournament run continued when they took on Lakeside on Saturday. The Harding Academy Wildcats took down the Lakeside Rams 63-49.

It was another big night for Claire Citty, who went 12 for 19 on her way to 29 points in addition to five boards and three steals. That makes it seven consecutive games in which she has scored at least a third of Harding Academy's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Mackenzie Byrd, who posted ten points in addition to seven boards and five assists.

Harding Academy was working as a unit and finished the game with 15 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Lakeside only racked up three assists.

Lakeside's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Payton Futch, who went 11 of 22 on her way to 24 points along with eight boards and five steals, and Mckenzie Williams, who went 8 of 14 on her way to 23 points and three steals. Futch is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last eight games she's played.

Harding Academy's record now sits at 9-1. As for Lakeside, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 8-6.

A feisty cat fight will be fought when the Harding Academy Wildcats challenge the Izard County Cougars at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Harding Academy is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 63.3 points per game this season. As for Lakeside, they will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on Pine Bluff at 6:00 p.m. on January 7, 2025. Lakeside is facing Pine Bluff at the right time seeing as Pine Bluff is stuck on a 12-game losing streak.