Elite has enjoyed the comforts of home their last three games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will challenge the Fortune Early College Panthers at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Elite will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps California Rankings (they are ranked 1294th, while Fortune Early College is ranked 595th).
Elite suffered their biggest loss since December 21, 2023 on Tuesday. They took a serious blow against Westlake Charter, falling 58-28. Elite was in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 25-3.
The losing side was boosted by Jeneyah Fowler, who dropped a double-double on ten points and 22 rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Rhema Armstrong, who scored seven points along with five rebounds and four steals.
Meanwhile, Fortune Early College waltzed into their game on Tuesday with five straight wins but they left with six. They really took it to Leroy Greene Academy for the full four quarters, racking up a 79-12 victory on the road. Fortune Early College has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight contests by 28 points or more this season.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Fortune Early College to victory, but perhaps none more so than Tenya Bailey, who scored 19 points. Alaziah "Lay" Akinmurele was another key contributor, scoring 15 points along with five rebounds and four steals.
Elite bumped their record down to 1-17 with that loss, which was their 12th straight at home dating back to last season. That rough patch could be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 19.9 points per game. As for Fortune Early College, they are on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 11-3 record this season.
Elite was taken down by Fortune Early College 54-13 in their previous matchup back in January of 2023. Can Elite avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
