Basketball Recap: Hammond Baptist Comes Up Short

Hammond Baptist entered their contest against Unity Christian Academy on Thursday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. The Hammond Baptist Swordsmen lost 58-37 to the Unity Christian Academy Phoenix. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as the Swordsmen came into the match with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 103rd in Indiana, while the Phoenix are ranked 340th in Illinois).

Unity Christian Academy's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Mason O'Neal led the charge by going 9 of 22 on his way to 22 points and five rebounds. The game was O'Neal's seventh in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Malachi O'Neal, who went 5 for 11 en route to 12 points along with five boards and four steals.

Hammond Baptist's defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 8-1. As for Unity Christian Academy, their win was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 16-6.

Hammond Baptist has already played their next contest (against HomeSchool Resource Center), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing. Unity Christian Academy will square off against Hinsdale Adventist Academy at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. One thing working in Unity Christian Academy's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last nine matches.