Basketball Recap: Parkside Comes Up Short in High-Profile Matchup with KIPP College Prep

On Saturday, Parkside faced KIPP College Prep in a battle between two of the state's top teams. The Parkside Eagles took a 55-51 hit to the loss column at the hands of the KIPP College Prep Panthers. The Eagles have been going strong on the season, but this is now their second loss in a row.

When it comes to explaining why Parkside lost, don't look at Colby Murphy. Despite the final result, he posted 24 points. That was a full 47.1% of Parkside's points, marking the fifth time in a row he's put up more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of KamarJ Lincoln, who scored ten points.

Leading KIPP College Prep to victory were Elijah Butts and Terron Acker. Butts had 17 points, while Acker earned 17 points. Butts is becoming a predictor of KIPP College Prep's success: when he posts at least 15 points the team is 7-2 (and 5-9 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was Dajuan Jones, who posted seven points.

Parkside's defeat dropped their record down to 18-10. As for KIPP College Prep, they now have a winning record of 12-11.

Looking ahead, Parkside will welcome Paul Public Charter International at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Parkside is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 65.1 points per game this season. KIPP College Prep has already played their next game (against Friendship Collegiate Academy), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing.