Basketball Game Preview: Northwest Christian Crusaders vs. ALA - Ironwood Warriors

The Northwest Christian Crusaders will take on the ALA - Ironwood Warriors at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this game.

Northwest Christian's tournament run continued when they took on Arizona Lutheran Academy on Friday. Northwest Christian fell 44-34 to Arizona Lutheran Academy. The defeat continues a trend for the Crusaders in their matchups with the Coyotes: they've now lost three in a row.

Meanwhile, ALA - Ironwood didn't have quite enough to beat Florence back in December of 2024 and fell 60-58. While the Warriors didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Gophers 17-9 in the first quarter.

Northwest Christian will need focus on slowing down Noah Adkins, one of several ALA - Ironwood players who made an impact when they last played. He posted 12 points and four steals. Another player making a difference was Porter Lee, who had 12 points.

Even though they lost, ALA - Ironwood was working as a unit and finished the game with 17 assists. That's the most assists they've posted since back in January of 2024.

Northwest Christian's loss dropped their record down to 4-6. As for ALA - Ironwood, their defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 7-3.

Northwest Christian came up short against ALA - Ironwood when the teams last played back in December of 2023, falling 62-57. Can Northwest Christian avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.