Having just played yesterday, the Foundation Christian Academy Panthers will head out on the road to face off against the Bishop McLaughlin Catholic Hurricanes at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Both are strolling into their matchups after big wins in their previous games.
Foundation Christian Academy is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They claimed a resounding 79-40 win over Lakeside Christian. The Panthers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five games by 25 points or more this season.
Foundation Christian Academy's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Caleb Hagan led the charge by putting up 23 points along with six boards and four blocks. Calvin Griffin was another key player, posting 19 points and six rebounds.
Meanwhile, Bishop McLaughlin Catholic's contest on Thursday was close up to the half, which is when they kicked things up a notch. They blew past Hernando Christian Academy 73-53. Given the Hurricanes' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 357th, while the Lions are ranked 739th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Bishop McLaughlin Catholic's win came from a few key players Foundation Christian Academy will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Jacob Mekdeci, who went 6 of 11 from beyond the arc on his way to 23 points in addition to eight steals and six assists. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 2.4 steals per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Christopher Bell, who went 6 for 9 on his way to 19 points and four steals.
Bishop McLaughlin Catholic was working as a unit and finished the game with 17 assists. That's the most assists they've posted since back in January of 2024.
Foundation Christian Academy has been performing well recently as they've won six of their last eight matches, which provided a massive bump to their 8-7 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 55.1 points per game. As for Bishop McLaughlin Catholic, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 11-3.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Foundation Christian Academy has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 31.2 boards per game. However, it's not like Bishop McLaughlin Catholic struggles in that department as they've been averaging 33.3 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Foundation Christian Academy might still be hurting after the 65-44 defeat they got from Bishop McLaughlin Catholic when the teams last played back in January of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Mekdeci, who posted ten points in addition to eight assists and seven rebounds. Now that Foundation Christian Academy knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
