Basketball Recap: Londen Bickham's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Methodist Children's Home over Grace Academy

If Methodist Children's Home was feeling good fresh off their 63-27 takedown of St. Mary's last Thursday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The Methodist Children's Home Bulldogs took a 53-38 bruising from Grace Academy on Friday. The Bulldogs have struggled against Grace Academy recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive lost matchup.

Several Bulldogs players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Londen Bickham, who posted 21 points and four steals. Bickham's evening made it three games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Olice Brown-Lynch, who dropped a double-double on ten points and 12 rebounds.

Even though they lost, Methodist Children's Home smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive boards in three consecutive matches.

Leading Grace Academy to victory were Richmond McIver and Canyon Maxwell. McIver dropped a double-double on 17 points and 12 boards, while Maxwell went 5 of 9 on his way to 16 points in addition to eight assists and five steals. Maxwell has been hot for a while, having posted two or more steals the last ten times he's played. Evan Hoyt was another key player, putting up ten points.

Methodist Children's Home's loss dropped their record down to 6-5. As for Grace Academy, they are on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last ten contests, which provided a nice bump to their 14-5 record this season.

Methodist Children's Home didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next game, a 40-35 win against Memorial Christian Academy on the 28th. Grace Academy has also already played their next matchup, an 86-34 victory against Sterling Classical on the 27th.