Malcolm hasn't had much luck against Lincoln Christian recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Malcolm Clippers will square off against the Lincoln Christian Crusaders at 6:00 p.m. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Malcolm sitting on four straight wins and Lincoln Christian on 35 (dating back to last season).
Malcolm can't be too worried about heading out to take on Lincoln Christian: they just beat Fort Calhoun at home, who had been dominant on their own court up to that point. Malcolm walked away with a 46-35 victory over Fort Calhoun on Thursday. That's two games straight that the Clippers have won by exactly 11 points.
Malcolm found their leader in freshman Payton Dolliver, who dropped a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds. That makes it three consecutive games in which Dolliver has scored at least a third of Malcolm's points. Another player making a difference was Merryl Paul, who posted ten points.
Meanwhile, a well-balanced attack led Lincoln Christian over Syracuse in every quarter on their way to victory on Thursday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Lincoln Christian blew Syracuse out of the water with a 77-38 final score. The Crusaders have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 20 matchups by 23 points or more this season.
Malcolm better keep an eye on Kena Ailes. She was instrumental in Lincoln Christian's win, dropping a double-double with 23 points and ten boards. The dominant performance also gave Ailes a new career-high in shooting accuracy (82%). Mattea Kassebaum was another key player, to rack up 17 points and six assists.
Lincoln Christian pushed their record up to 24-0 with the win, which was their 27th straight at home dating back to last season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 34.1 points. As for Malcolm, their victory bumped their record up to 15-10.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Malcolm has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 30.8 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Lincoln Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 30.7 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Malcolm beat Lincoln Christian 54-47 when the teams last played back in February of 2023. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Ailes, who dropped a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Malcolm still be able to contain Ailes? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
