The Westminster Catawba Christian Indians will take on the Gaston Christian Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both were dealt some close losses in their previous games and are determined not to let this one get away.
Westminster Catawba Christian is headed into Thursday's match looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their fourth straight game on Tuesday. They were three points away from ending the streak, but they lost a 70-67 heartbreaker at the hands of SouthLake Christian Academy. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest loss the Indians have suffered against the Eagles since January 7, 2022.
Despite the defeat, Westminster Catawba Christian got top-tier performance from Brycen Redmon, who went 9 for 18 on his way to 27 points and four steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Nikayle Hodge, who went 5 of 7 on his way to 11 points and six assists.
Meanwhile, Gaston Christian scored the most points they've had this season on Tuesday, but it wasn't enough. They fell just short of Concord Academy by a score of 80-77. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Saturday (57), Gaston Christian still had to take the loss.
Westminster Catawba Christian will need focus on slowing down Cameron Newman, one of several Gaston Christian players who made an impact when they last played. He dropped a double-double on 16 points and ten assists. Newman is also on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last 14 games he's played. Alessandro Luparia was another key player, going 7 of 11 on his way to 21 points and three steals.
Even though they lost, Gaston Christian was working as a unit and finished the game with 22 assists. That's the most assists they've posted since back in February of 2024.
Gaston Christian moved to 15-5 with that loss, which also ended their three-game winning streak. As for Westminster Catawba Christian, their defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 7-11.
Westminster Catawba Christian came up short against Gaston Christian when the teams last played back in January of 2024, falling 75-64. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Newman, who went 8 of 18 on his way to 28 points and five assists. Now that Westminster Catawba Christian knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.