The North Hills Christian Eagles and the Lee Christian Falcons will face off at 6:00 p.m. on January 25th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Both teams have had a bumpy ride up to this point with three consecutive losses for North Hills Christian and four for Lee Christian.
Last Friday, North Hills Christian came up short against Covenant Classical and fell 53-42. North Hills Christian has struggled against Covenant Classical recently, as their contest on Friday was their sixth consecutive lost matchup.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the most dominant came from Addison Shehan, who scored 18 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points she has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Reese Merrell, who scored seven points along with eight rebounds and six assists.
Even though they lost, North Hills Christian were working as a unit and finished the game with 12 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
Lee Christian suffered their biggest loss yet this season on Tuesday. They took a serious blow against Cresset Christian Academy, falling 74-14. While losing is never fun, Lee Christian can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 563rd, while Cresset Christian Academy is ranked 54th).
Like Lee Christian, they lost despite seeing results from several players. Elayna McFarland led the charge by scoring two points along with eight rebounds and eight blocks. McFarland is absolutely dominating the rebound category: she's posted at least eight every time she's taken the court this season. Madison Mashburn was another key contributor, scoring four points along with eight rebounds and two steals.
North Hills Christian's defeat dropped their record down to 6-9. As for Lee Christian, they dropped their record down to 2-11 with that defeat, which was their eighth straight at home.
Thursday's game is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: North Hills Christian have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 29.2 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Lee Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 25.8 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
North Hills Christian strolled past Lee Christian in their previous matchup on January 4th by a score of 53-36. Does North Hills Christian have another victory up their sleeve, or will Lee Christian turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
