The IMG Academy Gray Ascenders will head out on the road to square off against the Southland Christian FLAMES at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. IMG Academy Gray will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Florida Rankings (they are ranked 353rd, while the FLAMES are ranked 171st).
Last Friday, IMG Academy Gray ended up a good deal behind the Panthers and lost 60-42. IMG Academy Gray has struggled against the Panthers recently, as their match on Friday was their fourth consecutive lost matchup.
Meanwhile, Southland Christian came tearing into Friday's matchup with six straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 14.2 points) and they left with even more momentum. They came out on top against Melbourne by a score of 64-56. Having run the score up that high, both teams probably have some extra defensive drills coming up.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Southland Christian to victory, but perhaps none more so than Derek Lopez, who scored 22 points along with two blocks. It was the first time this season that Lopez posted two or more blocks. Juan Rios was another key contributor, scoring 14 points.
IMG Academy Gray's defeat dropped their record down to 7-11. As for Southland Christian, they pushed their record up to 19-7 with that win, which was their third straight on the road.
IMG Academy Gray couldn't quite finish off the FLAMES in their previous meeting back in December of 2023 and fell 47-44. Can IMG Academy Gray avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
