After flying high against the Bethel Assembly Christian Academy Eagles back in December of 2023, New Bern Christian Academy came back down to earth. New Bern Christian Academy took a 60-51 hit to the loss column at the hands of Hilltop Christian on Friday. While losing is never fun, New Bern Christian Academy can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 405th, while Hilltop Christian is ranked 132nd).
Despite the loss, New Bern Christian Academy still got an impressive performance from KC Peter, who scored 28 points along with nine rebounds. Peter scored a full 54.9% of New Bern Christian Academy's points, the fourth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Micah Coghill, who scored eight points.
Leading Hilltop Christian to victory were Caleb Manriquez and Philip Joyner. Manriquez dropped a double-double on 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Joyner went 6 for 10 from beyond the arc en route to 34 points and 2 assists. That's the first time this season that Joyner scored 15 or more points. The team also got some help courtesy of Judah Lee, who scored no points along with nine assists.
New Bern Christian Academy's loss dropped their record down to 8-5. As for Hilltop Christian, the win (which was their 11th in a row) raised their record to 15-3.
New Bern Christian Academy won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Eastern Christian HomeSchool at 11:30 a.m. on January 6th. Hilltop Christian won't have much time to rest: their next matchup is against Trinity Christian at 2:30 p.m. on January 6th. That game will pit two of the most dominant players against one another: Carter Jordan and Manriquez.
