Basketball Recap: Rusty Hooks' Big Game Can't Quite Lead New Covenant over North Cross

New Covenant has been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. They took a 58-48 hit to the loss column at the hands of the North Cross Raiders on Thursday. The Gryphons were given a dose of their own medicine in this game as the Raiders apparently hadn't forgotten their defeat the last time these teams played back in December of 2023.

New Covenant lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Rusty Hooks, who went 9 of 21 on his way to 24 points and six boards. Hooks is trending in the right direction considering he's improved his point production for four straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Tristan Isenhour, who almost dropped a double-double on 13 points and nine rebounds.

North Cross found their leader in sophomore Jesiah Hines, who went 6 for 10 en route to 18 points in addition to five assists and five boards. Hines' evening made it 17 games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. Carlos Baxter-Lanier also deserves some recognition as he grabbed his first steals of the season.

New Covenant's loss dropped their record down to 12-5. As for North Cross, the win (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 12-3.

New Covenant has already played their next contest, a 51-47 defeat against Fredericksburg Christian on the 24th. As for North Cross, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next game, a 102-40 victory against Eastern Mennonite on the 24th.