Preview: Evangel Christian Lightning vs. Wiregrass Kings
Evangel Christian is 1-9 against Wiregrass since February of 2020 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. Having just played yesterday, the Evangel Christian Lightning will head out on the road to face off against the Wiregrass Kings at 6:30 p.m. on January 19th. One thing working in Evangel Christian's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last five contests.
Evangel Christian can now show off 12 landslide victories after their most recent match on Thursday. They took their match on the road with ease, bagging a 60-26 win over Edgewood Academy. Given Evangel Christian's advantage in MaxPreps' Alabama basketball rankings (they are ranked 94th, while Edgewood Academy is ranked 288th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
The match pitted two dominant players against one another in Owen Bugnar and Johnny Groves. Bugnar had a solid game and scored nine points. Meanwhile, Groves did his best for the losing side, scoring ten points along with two steals.
Wiregrass suffered their biggest defeat yet this season on Saturday. They suffered a rough 69-47 loss at the hands of Tuscaloosa Home Educators. Wiregrass has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Despite their loss, Wiregrass saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Riley Treadaway, who scored 17 points, was perhaps the best of all. Brayden Treadaway was another key contributor, scoring 15 points.
Evangel Christian's win bumped their record up to 16-3. As for Wiregrass, they have not been sharp recently, as they've lost three of their last four matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 10-8 record this season.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the two teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Evangel Christian hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having only averaged 62.1 points per game. It's a different story for Wiregrass, though, as they've been averaging only 57.1 points per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Evangel Christian came up short against Wiregrass in their previous meeting back in February of 2023, falling 64-56. Thankfully for Evangel Christian, Aden Spann (who scored 19 points along with five rebounds) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
