Basketball Game Preview: Chapel Hill Panthers vs. Pace Academy Knights

By Team Reports Dec 24, 2024, 10:20pm

Basketball Preview: Chapel Hill Panthers vs. Pace Academy Knights

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The Chapel Hill Panthers and the Pace Academy Knights will round out the year against one another at at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.

It's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 81-48, which was the final score in Chapel Hill's tilt against Midtown on Friday. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Georgia basketball rankings (they are ranked 248th, while the Knights are ranked 60th).

Despite the loss, Chapel Hill saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Cameron Terry posted ten points and four steals. Terry is trending in the right direction considering she's improved her point production for three straight games. Another player making a difference was Za?Khiyah Thompson, who had seven points.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Pace Academy, who bounced back after a loss on the road two weeks ago. They walked away with a 46-36 victory over Westminster last Saturday.

Pace Academy's win came from a few key players Chapel Hill will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Ryan Wrigley, who earned 14 points along with five rebounds and three steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Kate Grice, who put up 15 points and three steals.

Pace Academy smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 12 consecutive contests dating back to last season.

Chapel Hill's defeat dropped their record down to 6-5. As for Pace Academy, their win bumped their record up to 7-3.

Chapel Hill came up short against Pace Academy when the teams last played back in December of 2023, falling 46-36. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Pace Academy's Lawson Monroe, who dropped a double-double on 20 points and 18 rebounds. Now that Chapel Hill knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.

Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps