The Hickory Grove Christian Lions will head out on the road to face off against the Central Academy Cougars at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Hopefully Hickory Grove Christian focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up nine on Tuesday.
Last Tuesday, Hickory Grove Christian lost to Concord Academy at home by a decisive 67-50 margin. While losing is never fun, Hickory Grove Christian can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 137th, while Concord Academy is ranked 38th).
Despite the loss, Hickory Grove Christian had strong showings from Brent Banks, who scored 22 points, and Barack Jones, who scored 14 points. Banks scored a full 44% of Hickory Grove Christian's points, the second time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Miles Allen, who scored 5 points.
Meanwhile, Central Academy struggled with assists last Monday (Sun Valley had 1400% more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Central Academy took a serious blow against Sun Valley, falling 72-23. Central Academy was in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 34-11.
Despite the loss, Central Academy had strong showings from Zach Mcdowell, who scored 6 points along with 11 rebounds, and Drew Butler, who scored 2 points along with 3 blocks.
Hickory Grove Christian's victory lifted them to 2-3 while Concord Academy's defeat dropped them down to 5-3.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Hickory Grove Christian have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 24.6 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Central Academy struggles in that department as they've been even better at 26.5 per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Come back here after the game to get analysis of the match and other basketball content.
