Basketball Recap: Pusch Ridge Christian Academy Takes Down Palo Verde in a Playoff Battle

With a playoff win on the line, Pusch Ridge Christian Academy rose to the challenge on Saturday. They put the hurt on the Palo Verde Titans with a sharp 69-46 win. The Lions have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine matches by 20 points or more this season.

Leading Pusch Ridge Christian Academy to victory were Isaac Hardeman and Noah McKinney. Hardeman shot 75% from the field on his way to 24 points, while McKinney went 5-for-10 to rack up 15 points and five boards. Thanks to that strong game, Hardeman now owns an excellent 46.7% shooting accuracy. The team also got some help courtesy of Ben Lambe, who posted eight points and eight rebounds.

Pusch Ridge Christian Academy was working as a unit and finished the game with 14 assists. They are 14-3 when they've passed the ball that well.

When it comes to explaining why Palo Verde lost, don't look at Kameron Pippen. Despite the final result, he earned 16 points and six boards. Daniel Ortiz was another key player, putting up nine points and five rebounds.

Lions

Previous Games

03/01/25 @ Palo Verde	69-46
02/28/25 @ Florence	55-53
02/22/25 @ Page	53-43
02/18/25 @ Parker	86-51
02/14/25 vs Seton Catholic	69-54
+ 6 more games

The victory (which was Pusch Ridge Christian Academy's 11th in a row) raised their record to 19-11. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 67.7 points over those games. As for Palo Verde, their defeat ended a five-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 24-6.

As of now, neither Pusch Ridge Christian Academy nor Palo Verde have any future games scheduled.