The Judah Christian Academy Lions will venture away from home to challenge the Providence Classical Paladins at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Judah Christian Academy is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 55.9 points per game this season.
Last Tuesday, Judah Christian Academy didn't have quite enough to beat UR Academy and fell 62-60. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game last Tuesday (56), Judah Christian Academy still had to take the loss.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Josiah Vroege, who went 6 for 11 en route to 17 points. He is trending in the right direction considering he's improved his point production for three straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Chase Haggins, who almost dropped a double-double on 11 points and nine rebounds.
Even though they lost, Judah Christian Academy smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as UR Academy only pulled down five offensive boards.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Providence Classical, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Monday. Everything went their way against Kingdom Leadership Academy on Tuesday as Providence Classical made off with a 48-28 win. The victory was all the more spectacular given the Paladins' disadvantage in MaxPreps' South Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 608th, while the Chargers are ranked 221st).
Providence Classical found their leader in freshman Grafton Eiff, who went 7 of 12 on his way to 23 points in addition to seven boards and five assists. That makes it four consecutive games in which Eiff has scored at least a third of Providence Classical's points. Another player making a difference was Malachi Thompson, who posted seven points along with six rebounds and six blocks.
Providence Classical moved to 5-8 with that win, which also ended their three-game losing streak. As for Judah Christian Academy, their loss dropped their record down to 4-3.
Keep an eye on the arc in Friday's match: Judah Christian Academy has made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having averaged 8.4 three-pointers per game. It's a different story for Providence Classical, though, as they've been averaging only 2.9 threes. Given Judah Christian Academy's sizable advantage in that area, Providence Classical will need to find a way to close that gap.
Judah Christian Academy was taken down by Providence Classical 65-34 when the teams last played back in October of 2023. Can Judah Christian Academy avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
