Basketball Game Preview: Eastern Mennonite Flames vs. Virginia Episcopal School Bishops

The Eastern Mennonite Flames will venture away from home to challenge the Virginia Episcopal School Bishops at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Eastern Mennonite has now lost nine straight, leaving the team hunting for their first win since December 3.

Eastern Mennonite is headed into the match out to prove that what happened against Handley on Monday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Eastern Mennonite had to suffer through a 88-35 loss at the hands of Handley. While losing is never fun, the Flames can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Virginia basketball rankings (they are ranked 301st, while the Judges are ranked 29th).

Meanwhile, Virginia Episcopal School might have been a little too into the holiday spirit, gifting Roanoke Catholic an easy 68-43 victory. The Bishops were down 58-33 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.

Eastern Mennonite will need focus on slowing down Patrick Steptoe, one of several Virginia Episcopal School players who made an impact when they last played. He posted five points and three steals. Marquez Barrera was another key player, putting up ten points.

Eastern Mennonite's defeat dropped their record down to 1-9. As for Virginia Episcopal School, their loss was their first in the region, dropping their region record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 6-7.

Eastern Mennonite was able to grind out a solid win over Virginia Episcopal School in their previous matchup back in January of 2024, winning 68-58. The rematch might be a little tougher for Eastern Mennonite since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.