Basketball Game Preview: Long Island Lutheran Crusaders vs. Montverde Academy Eagles

The Long Island Lutheran Crusaders and the Montverde Academy Eagles will face off at 6:00 p.m. on Friday without much rest having both just played. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Long Island Lutheran is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another highly-ranked state team: Hillcrest, who was ranked first in their home state at the time (Long Island Lutheran was ranked first). Everything went Long Island Lutheran's way against Hillcrest on Thursday as Long Island Lutheran made off with a 66-40 victory. The Crusaders have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six matchups by 21 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, Montverde Academy had already won 11 in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 25.3 points) and they went ahead and made it 12 on Thursday. They took down Tournament Opponent 74-56.

Montverde Academy pushed their record up to 19-1 with the win, which was their sixth straight at home. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 75.2 points per game. As for Long Island Lutheran, their victory bumped their record up to 14-2.

Long Island Lutheran and Montverde Academy were neck-and-neck in their previous meeting back in April of 2024, but Long Island Lutheran came up empty-handed after a 79-78 defeat. Thankfully for Long Island Lutheran, Jaloni Cambridge (who dropped a double-double on 34 points and 11 assists) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.