Preview: Lakewood Park Christian Panthers vs. Fort Wayne Wayne Generals
The Lakewood Park Christian Panthers will head out on the road to face off against the Fort Wayne Wayne Generals at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Having both just faced considerable losses, both teams are looking to turn things around.
Lakewood Park Christian has been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. They ended up on the wrong side of a rough 62-36 walloping at the hands of Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian on Saturday. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Lakewood Park Christian in their matchups with Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian: they've now lost five in a row.
The losing side was boosted by Ava Mcgrade, who scored 14 points. That was a full 38.9% of Lakewood Park Christian's points, marking the fifth time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Grace Merkel was another key contributor, scoring two points along with four steals.
Meanwhile, Fort Wayne Wayne's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their fifth straight loss. They suffered a tough 83-62 defeat at the hands of Fort Wayne Northrop. While losing is never fun, Fort Wayne Wayne can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 212th, while Fort Wayne Northrop is ranked 30th).
Despite their defeat, Fort Wayne Wayne saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Khalise Collins, who dropped a double-double on 23 points and 13 rebounds, was perhaps the best of all. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Collins has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Davianna Irons, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Even though they lost, Fort Wayne Wayne smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 24 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Fort Wayne Northrop only pulled down 15 offensive rebounds.
Lakewood Park Christian's defeat ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 13-6. As for Fort Wayne Wayne, their loss dropped their record down to 8-12.
Keep an eye on the arc in Tuesday's game: Lakewood Park Christian have made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having only averaged 6.2 threes per game. It's a different story for Fort Wayne Wayne, though, as they've been averaging only 4.1 threes per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Lakewood Park Christian came up short against Fort Wayne Wayne when the teams last played back in January of 2023, falling 53-40. Can Lakewood Park Christian avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
