The Lakeland Christian Vikings will take on the John Carroll Catholic Rams at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams have allowed few points on average, (Lakeland Christian: 27.2, John Carroll Catholic: 26.1) so any points scored will be well earned.
Lakeland Christian is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They were the clear victor by a 64-43 margin over Cornerstone Charter Academy. The Vikings have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 15 matchups by 20 points or more this season.
Rudi Jessee
| 02/13/25 vs Cornerstone Charter Academy | 24 |
| 01/07/25 vs Geneva Classical Academy | 21 |
| 12/10/24 vs McKeel Academy | 21 |
| 01/09/25 @ Frostproof | 20 |
| 11/21/24 vs Bartow | 19 |
Rudi Jessee continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a double-double with 24 points and 14 boards. The dominant performance gave her a new career-high in points. Another player making a difference was Kiya Boyce, who posted four points along with ten assists, seven steals, and six rebounds.
Lakeland Christian smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive boards in ten consecutive games.
Meanwhile, John Carroll Catholic had already won ten in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 23.1 points) and they went ahead and made it 11 on Thursday. They came out on top against the ThunderWolves by a score of 38-26. Given the Rams' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 213th, while the ThunderWolves are ranked 500th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Lakeland Christian better keep an eye on Olivia Laughlin. She was instrumental in John Carroll Catholic's win, dropping a double-double with 12 points and 16 boards. Camryn Clive was another key player, putting up 13 points.
Lakeland Christian has been performing well recently as they've won 11 of their last 13 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 20-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 22.3 points over those games. As for John Carroll Catholic, they pushed their record up to 19-4 with the victory, which was their sixth straight at home.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Lakeland Christian has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 29 rebounds per game. However, it's not like John Carroll Catholic struggles in that department as they've been averaging 28.9 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
