The Eastern Mennonite Flames had already won seven in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 14.7 points), and they went ahead and made it eight on Thursday. They walked away with a 73-62 win over Fredericksburg Christian. Given Eastern Mennonite's advantage in MaxPreps' Virginia basketball rankings (they are ranked 39th, while Fredericksburg Christian is ranked 178th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Eastern Mennonite's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Drew Hatter led the charge by dropping a double-double on 19 points and 11 rebounds. Hatter is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last seven games he's played. William Gardner was another key contributor, scoring 18 points along with five rebounds.
Fredericksburg Christian lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Christan Smith, who scored 14 points along with six assists and five rebounds. Smith continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Noah Caesar, who scored 20 points along with six rebounds and two steals.
Eastern Mennonite's win was their sixth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 11-3. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 72.0 points per game. As for Fredericksburg Christian, their loss dropped their record down to 6-5.
Eastern Mennonite will look to defend their home court on Saturday against Hargrave Military Academy at 2:30 p.m. Hargrave Military Academy knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past nine matches -- so hopefully Eastern Mennonite likes a good challenge. As for Fredericksburg Christian, they will head out on the road to face off against Seton at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday.
