Basketball Recap: Merit Preparatory Academy falls despite strong effort from Lizbeth Diaz

By Team Reports Feb 6, 2024, 9:04am

Basketball Recap: Merit Preparatory Academy Knights vs. Intermountain Christian Lions

The Merit Preparatory Academy Knights's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Saturday after their fourth straight loss. They were outmatched by Intermountain Christian on the road and fell 56-22. Merit Preparatory Academy has not had much luck with the Lions recently, as the team's come up short the last six times they've met.

When it comes to explaining why Merit Preparatory Academy lost, one person who can't be blamed is Lizbeth Diaz. Despite the final result, she scored ten points. That was a full 45.5% of Merit Preparatory Academy's points, marking the third time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Intermountain Christian to victory, but perhaps none more so than Elaine Lunsford, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 20 rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Lunsford has scored all season. Makenna Stoddard was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on ten points and 26 rebounds.

Merit Preparatory Academy's defeat was their fourth straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 7-16. Those losses could be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 23.5 points per game. As for Intermountain Christian, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 11-4 record this season.

Merit Preparatory Academy does not have any more games scheduled as of now. Intermountain Christian will head out on the road to take on the Eagles at 5:15 p.m. on Monday. American Prep WV's defense has only allowed 29.1 points per game this season, so the Lions' offense will have their work cut out for them.