After a string of four wins, the North Valley Christian Academy Lions's good fortune finally ran out on Thursday. They fell just short of The Gregory School by a score of 65-63. North Valley Christian Academy was given a dose of their own medicine in this game as The Gregory School apparently hadn't forgotten their defeat the last time these teams played back in January of 2023.
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.
Leading The Gregory School to victory were 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.
North Valley Christian Academy's defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 11-9. As for The Gregory School, they pushed their record up to 18-3 with that victory, which was their 13th straight at home dating back to last season.
North Valley Christian Academy will head out on the road to take on North Phoenix Preparatory Academy at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. As for The Gregory School, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Patagonia at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Patagonia focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 21 on Thursday.
