The Joppa-Maple Grove Rangers's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Tuesday after their third straight loss. The game between Joppa-Maple Grove and Agape Christian wasn't particularly close, with Joppa-Maple Grove falling 55-40. The result was an unpleasant reminder to Joppa-Maple Grove of the 62-44 defeat they experienced in the two teams' previous head-to-head fixture back in December of 2023.
Despite the loss, Joppa-Maple Grove still got an impressive performance from Jacob Smith, who scored 20 points along with seven rebounds. That was a full 50% of Joppa-Maple Grove's points, marking the fourth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points.
Joppa-Maple Grove has been struggling recently, as they've lost six of their last seven contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-11 record this season. As for Agape Christian, their win ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 5-11.
Joppa-Maple Grove will head out on the road to square off against Meridian at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Meridian presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Joppa-Maple Grove in Illinois (Meridian is ranked 281st, while Joppa-Maple Grove is ranked 771st). As for Agape Christian, they will look to defend their home court on Thursday against Egyptian at 7:30 p.m. Egyptian is coming into the game on a six-game losing streak.
