Peyton and Evangel Christian Academy are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2015, but not for long. The Peyton Panthers will challenge the Evangel Christian Academy Eagles at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Peyton is coming into the contest hot, having won their last five games.
Peyton is headed into the match after thoroughly thrashing Harrison: they outscored them in every quarter. Peyton put the hurt on Harrison with a sharp 41-21 win on Monday.
Sammie Nickell
| 02/10/25 @ Harrison | 10 |
| 02/08/25 @ Twin Peaks Classical Academy | 13 |
| 02/06/25 vs Dolores Huerta Prep | 16 |
| 01/28/25 vs Banning Lewis Academy | 14 |
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Peyton to victory, but perhaps none more so than Sammie Nickell, who dropped a double-double with ten points and ten boards. Nickell has been hot recently, having posted ten or more rebounds the last four times she's played. Scarlett Clark was another key player, putting up seven points and three steals.
Peyton was working as a unit and finished the game with 13 assists. That's the most assists they've posted since back in March of 2024.
Meanwhile, Evangel Christian Academy made easy work of Miami-Yoder on Friday and carried off a 50-29 victory. The Eagles have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won ten games by 21 points or more this season.
Evangel Christian Academy's win came from a few key players Peyton will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Mia Castro, who went 5-for-8 en route to 10 points in addition to eight steals and six assists. The team also got some help courtesy of Sara Caldwell, who posted 18 points and three steals.
Evangel Christian Academy pushed their record up to 14-4 with the win, which was their fourth straight on the road. The wins came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 28.0 points over those games. As for Peyton, they now have a winning record of 9-8.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Peyton has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 34.5 boards per game. However, it's not like Evangel Christian Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 22.3 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Peyton strolled past Evangel Christian Academy when the teams last played back in February of 2020 by a score of 64-48. Will Peyton repeat their success, or does Evangel Christian Academy have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
