Franklin Road Christian and Zion Christian Academy are an even 4-4 against one another since December of 2021, but not for long. The Franklin Road Christian Minutemen will head out to challenge the Zion Christian Academy Eagles at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Franklin Road Christian is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 61.4 points per game this season.
Last Friday, Franklin Road Christian came up short against Varsity Opponent and fell 52-44. The Minutemen have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Franklin Road Christian's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Pierre DeShields, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 11 boards, and Ben Walker, who posted 17 points and five rebounds. DeShields is trending in the right direction considering he's improved his point production for four straight games. Another player making a difference was Wes Fuqua, who earned two points and six assists.
Even though they lost, Franklin Road Christian smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive boards in three consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, everything came up roses for Zion Christian Academy against Boyd Christian on Tuesday as the team secured a 100-58 victory. The Eagles have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won ten games by 20 points or more this season.
Franklin Road Christian better keep an eye on Gabe Davenport. He was instrumental in Zion Christian Academy's win, going 15 for 23 on his way to 41 points and four steals. That makes it 25 consecutive games in which Davenport has scored at least a third of Zion Christian Academy's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Noah Beaman, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and 13 rebounds.
Zion Christian Academy's win bumped their record up to 14-11. As for Franklin Road Christian, their defeat dropped their record down to 19-12.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the two teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Franklin Road Christian hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 61.4 points per game. However, it's not like Zion Christian Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 78.6 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Franklin Road Christian came up short against Zion Christian Academy in their previous meeting two weeks ago, falling 83-70. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Davenport, who went 16 of 35 en route to 37 points and three steals. Now that Franklin Road Christian knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
