Preview: Avon Grove Charter Wolves vs. Tri-State Christian Crusaders
Avon Grove Charter is 0-8 against Tri-State Christian since January of 2020 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. Both teams will face off at 7:00 p.m. on January 16th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Avon Grove Charter played against Freire Charter and won via forfeit.
Avon Grove Charter had a senior duo take command as Ayub Massaquoi scored 11 points along with six rebounds and four steals and Xavier London scored ten points along with eight rebounds and five steals.
Tri-State Christian entered their tilt with The Christian Academy with four consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with five. Tri-State Christian enjoyed a cozy 59-45 victory over The Christian Academy on Saturday. Given Tri-State Christian's advantage in MaxPreps's basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 63rd in Maryland, while The Christian Academy is ranked 420th in Pennsylvania), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Jeremiah Falko and Sam Falko were among the main playmakers for Tri-State Christian as the former scored 16 points along with nine assists and seven rebounds and the latter scored 24 points. Falko has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last three times he's played. Brandon Swort was another key contributor, scoring eight points.
Avon Grove Charter's victory bumped their record up to 4-6. As for Tri-State Christian, they are on a roll lately: they've won 13 of their last 14 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 18-3 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Avon Grove Charter have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 31.5 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Tri-State Christian, though, as they've been averaging only 39.3 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Avon Grove Charter was taken down by Tri-State Christian 81-31 when the teams last played back in February of 2023. The contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point Avon Grove Charter was down 39-16.
