Basketball Recap: Elijah Ahlers' Big Game Can't Quite Lead Northside Christian over Zephyrhills Christian Academy

Northside Christian lost against Zephyrhills Christian Academy back in December of 2024 and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Tuesday. The Northside Christian Mustangs fell to the Zephyrhills Christian Academy Warriors 59-55. While losing is never fun, the Mustangs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 393rd, while the Warriors are ranked 143rd).

Several Mustangs players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Elijah Ahlers, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and ten rebounds. Ahlers is on a roll when it comes to boards, as he's now pulled down nine or more in the last four games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Jordyn White, who posted 15 points and five rebounds.

Zephyrhills Christian Academy's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Garciano N'Tonha, who had 18 points. Another player making a difference was Sansao Wika, who earned 13 points along with seven boards and three blocks.

Northside Christian's loss was their fourth straight at home, which dropped their record down to 8-12. As for Zephyrhills Christian Academy, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven contests, which provided a nice bump to their 16-4 record this season.

Northside Christian will venture away from home to challenge Shorecrest Prep at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Northside Christian is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 64.2 points per game this season. Zephyrhills Christian Academy has already played their next match (against Foundation Christian Academy), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing.