Preview: Temple Christian Crusaders vs. HEARTS for Jesus Christ Guardians
The Temple Christian Crusaders will head out on the road to challenge the HEARTS for Jesus Christ Guardians at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Temple Christian has struggled recently with 21 defeats in a row, while HEARTS for Jesus Christ will arrive with eight straight wins.
Temple Christian pushed their score all the way to 65 on Saturday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They were just a bucket shy of victory and fell 66-65 to Lake Ridge Academy.
Meanwhile, HEARTS for Jesus Christ beat Reimer Road Baptist Christian 56-47 on Thursday. The win was all the more spectacular given HEARTS for Jesus Christ's disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 560th, while Reimer Road Baptist Christian is ranked 255th).
HEARTS for Jesus Christ's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Silas Nixon, who scored 12 points along with six rebounds and five assists. Nixon is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last seven games he's played. Another player making a difference was Grady Davis, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and ten rebounds.
Temple Christian's loss was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season, which dropped their record down to 0-7. That rough patch could be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 25.6 points per game. As for HEARTS for Jesus Christ, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won nine of their last ten matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 15-4 record this season.
Temple Christian was dealt a bruising 67-27 defeat at the hands of HEARTS for Jesus Christ in their previous meeting back in January of 2022. The contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point Temple Christian was down 46-20.
