The Gregory School Hawks waltzed into their contest on Thursday with eight straight wins but they left with nine. They had just enough and edged North Valley Christian Academy out 65-63. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
The Gregory School was led to victory by Nitai Buchler and Razin Smith. Buchler scored 15 points along with six rebounds, while Smith dropped a double-double on 20 points and 13 rebounds. Smith hasn't dropped below eight rebounds for five straight games. Another player making a difference was Devin Dawson, who scored 11 points.
Several Lions players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Zathan Ruffin, who scored 17 points along with nine rebounds. Bobby Rodriguez was another key contributor, scoring 20 points.
The Gregory School pushed their record up to 18-3 with that win, which was their 13th straight at home dating back to last season. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 67.5 points per game. As for North Valley Christian Academy, their loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 11-9.
The Gregory School won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Patagonia at 7:00 p.m. on January 19th. Patagonia will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Arizona Rankings (they are ranked 313th, while The Gregory School is ranked 91st). As for North Valley Christian Academy, they won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against North Phoenix Preparatory Academy at 7:00 p.m. on January 19th.
