Basketball Game Preview: Cross Keys Phoenix vs. Excel Christian Academy Eagles

The Cross Keys Phoenix are taking a road trip to challenge the Excel Christian Academy Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Cross Keys is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 53.2 points per game this season.

Last Tuesday, Cross Keys slipped by Howard 44-43. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Phoenix.

Christian Holmes was his usual excellent self, putting up 18 points in addition to five rebounds and five steals. Holmes is crushing it when it comes to steals: he's grabbed at least two every time he's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Dre Tucker, who posted ten points and three steals.

Meanwhile, Excel Christian Academy entered their tilt with Arlington Christian on Friday with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They took down Arlington Christian 76-62.

Excel Christian Academy's win came from a few key players Cross Keys will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Kaiyu Huffman, who went 8 for 18 on his way to 20 points along with six boards and five assists. Carter May was another key player, going 5 of 10 en route to 15 points and seven rebounds.

Cross Keys' win bumped their record up to 11-7. As for Excel Christian Academy, they are also on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 11-7 record this season.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Cross Keys has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 28.9 boards per game. However, it's not like Excel Christian Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 36.7 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more basketball content.