Basketball Recap: Jake Hamilton's Big Game Can't Quite Lead New Life Christian Academy over Elk Valley Christian

If New Life Christian Academy was riding high fresh off their 68-46 takedown of Varsity Opponent last Saturday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The New Life Christian Academy Lions took an 80-72 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Elk Valley Christian Eagles on Monday. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game last Saturday (68), the Lions still had to take the loss.

Several Lions players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Jake Hamilton, who dropped a triple-double with 22 points, 20 rebounds, and 18 assists. Hamilton has been hot for a while, having also posted three or more steals the last 39 times he's played. Cameron McEarchern was another key player, putting up 31 points in addition to seven boards and six assists.

Even though they lost, New Life Christian Academy smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 18 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in 20 consecutive matchups.

Leading Elk Valley Christian to victory were Mikey Graham and Spencer Campbell. Graham dropped a double-double with 16 points and 19 assists, while Campbell dropped a double-double with 26 points and ten rebounds. Elk Valley Christian is 11-3 when Campbell posts ten or more boards, but 1-3 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Jon Graham, who went 5-for-8 on his way to 13 points and five rebounds.

New Life Christian Academy's defeat dropped their record down to 15-12. As for Elk Valley Christian, their win was their eighth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 12-6.

New Life Christian Academy has already played their next contest, a 62-61 loss against Auburn Baptist Christian Academy on the 28th. As for Elk Valley Christian, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next game, an 88-58 defeat against Grace Christian on the 27th.