The First Christian Lions will head out to take on the Westwood Christian Warriors at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. First Christian has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the game with five straight losses, while Westwood Christian will come in with seven straight wins.
On Tuesday, First Christian came up short against Corinth Christian Academy and fell 55-47. That's two games in a row now that the Lions have lost by exactly eight points.
Meanwhile, Westwood Christian hadn't done well against Hope Christian Academy recently (they were 0-7 in their previous seven matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Monday. Westwood Christian came out on top against Hope Christian Academy by a score of 71-59. The Warriors pushed the score to 66-46 by the end of the third, a deficit the Lions cut but never quite recovered from.
Westwood Christian's win came from a few key players First Christian will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Tripp Kirkland, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and ten boards. He is on a roll when it comes to rebounds, as he's now pulled down ten or more in the last eight games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Avery Thomas, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 17 boards.
Westwood 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 eight offensive boards in 13 consecutive contests.
Westwood Christian pushed their record up to 10-3 with the victory, which was their sixth straight on the road. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 64.0 points per game. As for First Christian, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-14.
First Christian ended up a good deal behind Westwood Christian in their previous meeting back in November of 2024, losing 48-30. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Kirkland, who dropped a double-double on 20 points and 15 rebounds. Now that First 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.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
