Basketball Preview: Tuscaloosa Home Educators Warriors vs. Ezekiel Academy Knights
The Tuscaloosa Home Educators Warriors will head out on the road to face off against the Ezekiel Academy Knights at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Tuscaloosa Home Educators is no doubt hoping to put an end to a four-game streak of away losses.
Last Tuesday, it was a hard-fought matchup, but Tuscaloosa Home Educators had to settle for a 34-32 loss against the Torches. While losing is never fun, Tuscaloosa Home Educators can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Alabama basketball rankings (they are ranked 334th, while the Torches are ranked 165th).
Tuscaloosa Home Educators' loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Amelia Arsenault, who scored 18 points, and Lanie Westerberg who scored 13 points. That was a full 56.3% of Tuscaloosa Home Educators' points, marking the third time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points.
Meanwhile, Ezekiel Academy came into Friday's contest having lost three straight, but that streak is now in the rearview. They strolled past Southern Christian with points to spare on Friday, taking the game 51-35. Ezekiel Academy pushed the score to 43-22 by the end of the third, a deficit the Patriots cut but never quite recovered from.
Addi Newell continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a double-double on 23 points and ten rebounds. It was the first time this season that she pulled down eight or more rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Emma Russell, who scored nine points along with six rebounds and five steals.
Tuscaloosa Home Educators' loss dropped their record down to 5-12. As for Ezekiel Academy, their victory ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 15-6.
Tuscaloosa Home Educators might still be hurting after the 46-21 loss they got from the Knights in their previous meeting back in December of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Ezekiel Academy's Gianna Johnson, who scored 11 points along with five rebounds and three blocks. Now that Tuscaloosa Home Educators knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
