Columbia and Republic are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2018, but not for long. Both will face off at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday without much rest having both just played. Columbia is looking for their season's first victory.
Columbia is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 55 points on Saturday, they were much more limited against Northport on Tuesday. They had to suffer through a 101-23 loss at the hands of the Mustangs. While losing is never fun, the Lions can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Washington basketball rankings (they are ranked 379th, while the Mustangs are ranked 122nd).
Meanwhile, Republic strolled past Varsity Opponent with points to spare on Tuesday, taking the game 59-40.
Republic found their leader in freshman Landon Short, who dropped a double-double on 38 points and 13 boards. The contest was Short's 17th in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Iman Abdallah, who posted two points and nine assists.
Republic smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 18 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in seven consecutive matches.
Columbia's loss dropped their record down to 0-15. As for Republic, their win bumped their record up to 10-7.
Columbia was taken down by Republic 80-37 in their previous meeting back in December of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Short, who went 15 for 26 en route to 35 points along with six assists and six rebounds. Now that Columbia knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
