The Challenger Firebirds will venture away from home to challenge the Temple Baptist Eagles at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Challenger is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 51.2 points per game this season.
Back in December of 2024, Challenger didn't have quite enough to beat Lake Lure Classical Academy and fell 68-66. The Firebirds haven't had much luck with the Raptors recently, as the team's come up short the last eight times they've met.
| 12/17/24 @ Lake Lure Classical Academy | 8 |
| 12/09/24 vs Nebo Crossing Academy | 6 |
| 11/14/24 @ Veritas Christian Academy | 6 |
| 12/13/24 @ Pinnacle Classical Academy | 4 |
| 02/09/24 vs Haywood Christian Academy | 4 |
Challenger's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Riley Annis, who went 8 for 20 on his way to 25 points and seven steals, and Zion Wright, who went 9 of 12 on his way to 21 points and eight rebounds. Those eight rebounds gave Wright a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Kendall Reinhardt, who posted seven points in addition to 15 rebounds and five assists.
Even though they lost, Challenger was working as a unit and finished the game with 16 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Temple Baptist entered their tilt with Bethel Christian Academy on Thursday with three consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with four. They blew past the Eagles 64-31. Temple Baptist has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won three matchups by 29 points or more this season.
Temple Baptist has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 6-2 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.2 points per game. As for Challenger, they now have a losing record at 4-5.
Everything came up roses for Challenger against Temple Baptist in their previous matchup back in November of 2022, as the squad secured a 72-29 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Challenger since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
