Basketball Preview: New Covenant Gryphons vs. Temple Christian Crusaders
New Covenant has gone 9-1 against Temple Christian recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The New Covenant Gryphons will host the Temple Christian Crusaders at 6:30 p.m. New Covenant is coming into the contest hot, having won their last four games.
New Covenant's offense will try to repeat the strong performance it gave on Tuesday, when they got past Smith Mountain Lake Christian Academy's usually-dominant defense. Everything went New Covenant's way against Smith Mountain Lake Christian Academy as New Covenant made off with a 56-34 victory. The Gryphons have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won three matches by 22 points or more this season.
It was another big night for Cole Murdock, who went 7 for 14 en route to 22 points plus six rebounds. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 15.6 points per game. Another player making a difference was Rusty Hooks, who earned nine points in addition to seven rebounds and four steals.
Meanwhile, Temple Christian hadn't done well against Roanoke Valley Christian recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. Temple Christian walked away with a 40-31 win over Roanoke Valley Christian. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Crusaders.
Temple Christian's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Carter Cash led the charge by scoring 17 points in addition to six rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Silas Walker, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and nine rebounds.
Temple Christian smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in three consecutive matchups.
Temple Christian now has a winning record of 2-1. As for New Covenant, their victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 4-1.
Everything came up roses for New Covenant against Temple Christian when the teams last played back in December of 2023, as the team secured a 79-40 win. Does New Covenant have another victory up their sleeve, or will Temple Christian turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
