The Jefferson Christian Academy Cardinals 's's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Thursday after their fifth straight loss. The matchup between Jefferson Christian Academy and Mercer Christian Academy wasn't particularly close, with Jefferson Christian Academy falling 54-39. While losing is never fun, Jefferson Christian Academy can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps's basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 309th in Virginia, while Mercer Christian Academy is ranked 81st in West Virginia).
Mercer Christian Academy's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was MJ Patton, who scored 21 points along with four steals. That makes it 12 consecutive games in which Patton has scored at least 25% of Mercer Christian Academy's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Chance Watkins, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and ten rebounds.
Jefferson Christian Academy's loss was their third straight at home, which bumped their record down to 2-6. As for Mercer Christian Academy, the win (which was their fourth in a row) raised their record to 6-6.
Jefferson Christian Academy will head out on the road to face off against Pipestem Christian Academy at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Pipestem Christian Academy knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past three contests -- so hopefully Jefferson Christian Academy likes a good challenge. As for Mercer Christian Academy, they will look to defend their home court on Saturday against Mount Hope Christian Academy at 4:00 p.m. Hopefully Mount Hope Christian Academy focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up ten on Thursday.
