Preview: Highland Rim Academy vs. South Haven Christian
Highland Rim Academy will head out on the road to face off against South Haven Christian at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in Tennessee (Highland Rim Academy is ranked 252nd, while South Haven Christian is ranked 240th).
On January 5th, Highland Rim Academy had to suffer through a rough 58-17 loss at the hands of Clarksville Christian. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Highland Rim Academy in their matchups with Clarksville Christian: they've now lost four in a row.
Meanwhile, winning is just a little bit easier when you work as a team to rack up nine more assists than your opponent, a fact South Haven Christian proved on Thursday. They walked away with a 43-32 win over Pleasant View Christian. The win made it back-to-back wins for South Haven Christian.
South Haven Christian's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Aliya Gagliano led the charge by dropping a double-double on 16 points and 11 rebounds. Gagliano is absolutely dominating the rebound category: she's posted at least eight every time she's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was Kaleigh Starnes, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 15 rebounds.
Highland Rim Academy's defeat dropped their record down to 3-3. As for South Haven Christian, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 13-8 record this season.
Highland Rim Academy came up short against South Haven Christian in their previous matchup back in January of 2023, falling 42-36. Can Highland Rim Academy avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
