Basketball Recap: Candlelight Christian Academy Drops Highest Score of Season Against Mclaughlin

Flames

Team Score

01/13/25 @ McLaughlin	71
12/05/24 vs Champions Christian Academy	65
12/09/24 @ Excel Christian Academy Blue	60
11/15/24 vs Crossroads Christian	44
01/10/25 vs Winter Haven Christian	40

Winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Candlelight Christian Academy). They put the hurt on the McLaughlin Phoenix with a sharp 71-46 win on Monday. The matchup was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Flames had established a 22 point advantage.

Candlelight Christian Academy found their leader in freshman Ronald Padilla-Cordero, who posted ten points along with 14 steals and 11 rebounds. Padilla-Cordero is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed three or more in the last five games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Gabriel Coste, who almost dropped a double-double on 13 points and nine boards.

Candlelight Christian Academy was working as a unit and finished the game with 19 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.

With the victory, Candlelight Christian Academy broke their three-game losing streak and moved their record to 3-6. As for McLaughlin, their loss was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season, which dropped their record down to 0-5.

Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Candlelight Christian Academy will have some time to savor their win since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on Geneva Classical Academy at 7:00 p.m. on January 24th. As for McLaughlin, they will face off against Frostproof at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday.