Basketball Game Preview: Victory Christian Lions vs. Ragland Purple Devils

The Victory Christian Lions will face off against the Ragland Purple Devils at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Victory Christian has three straight victories, Ragland has 31 straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Victory Christian will bounce into Friday's matchup after beating Jefferson Christian Academy, who they had gone 0-9 against in their nine prior meetings. Victory Christian secured a 51-47 W over Jefferson Christian Academy on Tuesday. The score was all tied up 20-20 at the break, but the Lions were the better team in the second half.

Amelia Haney was her usual excellent self, going 13 for 23 on her way to 31 points. She has been hot for a while, having also posted two or more steals the last 21 times she's played. Lily Brisendine was another key player, putting up seven points and nine rebounds.

Meanwhile, Ragland took a blow against Sand Rock on Thursday, falling 60-12. While losing is never fun, the Purple Devils can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Alabama basketball rankings (they are ranked 389th, while the Wildcats are ranked 117th).

Victory Christian is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 7-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 53.0 points per game. As for Ragland, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-8.

Victory Christian strolled past Ragland in their previous meeting back in November by a score of 42-26. The rematch might be a little tougher for Victory Christian since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.