If the Pine Lake Prep Pride were riding high off their 66-45 takedown of SouthLake Christian Academy last Monday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. Pine Lake Prep took a 60-51 hit to the loss column at the hands of Carmel Christian on Wednesday. If Pine Lake Prep hoped to take revenge for the 49-40 defeat against they when the teams met, then they were left disappointed.
Loss or not, Pine Lake Prep got some senior leadership from Robert Magner who scored 16 points along with six rebounds and two steals and Lucas Strickfaden who scored 14 points along with five rebounds. Magner has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last five times he's played. Another player making a difference was Jamie Lawson, who scored eight points along with six rebounds.
Even though they lost, Pine Lake Prep smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Carmel Christian only pulled down three offensive rebounds.
Carmel Christian was led to victory by Kam Taylor and Bryce Slay. Taylor dropped a double-double on 21 points and ten rebounds, while Slay scored 21 points along with two steals. Taylor is absolutely dominating the point category: he's posted at least 15 every time he's taken the court this season.
Pine Lake Prep's loss ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 7-6. As for Carmel Christian, the victory makes it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 9-10.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Pine Lake Prep will take on Langtree Charter at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Langtree Charter is hoping to put an end to a five-game streak of away losses. As for Carmel Christian, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Cox Mill at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in North Carolina (Cox Mill is ranked 68th, while Carmel Christian is ranked 81st).
