The Franklin Road Christian Minutemen will face off against the Temple Baptist Academy Royal Crusaders at 3:40 p.m. on Friday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Franklin Road Christian has struggled recently with three losses in a row, while Temple Baptist Academy will arrive with six straight victories.
Last Tuesday, Franklin Road Christian lost to South Haven Christian on the road by a 66-50 margin. The Minutemen were down 60-36 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.
| 12/14/24 vs Varsity Opponent | 1 |
| 01/14/25 @ South Haven Christian | 2 |
David Smith put forth a good effort for the losing side as he went 5 for 6 on his way to 10 points and five rebounds. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in blocks (two). Mason Alcorn was another key player, putting up ten points and eight boards.
Meanwhile, Temple Baptist Academy didn't have too much trouble with Tabernacle Christian on Thursday as they won 52-34. Given the Royal Crusaders' advantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 236th in Tennessee, while the Conquerors are ranked 605th in North Carolina), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Franklin Road Christian better keep an eye on Noah Mueller. He was instrumental in Temple Baptist Academy's win, going 10 of 19 en route to 26 points and seven rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Levi Tomlinson, who went 6 for 14 on his way to 15 points and six boards.
Franklin Road Christian's defeat dropped their record down to 13-7. As for Temple Baptist Academy, they pushed their record up to 12-3 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Franklin Road Christian has been crashing the rebounds this season, having averaged 30.6 boards per game. However, it's not like Temple Baptist Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 29.8 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Everything came up roses for Franklin Road Christian against Temple Baptist Academy in their previous matchup back in January of 2022, as the team secured an 85-37 victory. Will Franklin Road Christian repeat their success, or does Temple Baptist Academy have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
