Benjamin Franklin is 0-5 against Valley Christian since January of 2022 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Benjamin Franklin Chargers will look to defend their home court against the Valley Christian Trojans at 5:30 p.m. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Benjamin Franklin sitting on three straight wins and Valley Christian on five.
Even though Benjamin Franklin has not done well against Gilbert Christian recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. Benjamin Franklin enjoyed a cozy 54-37 win over Gilbert Christian.
Benjamin Franklin's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Jacey Blair led the charge by dropping a double-double on 12 points and ten steals. Blair is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last 14 games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Brianna Martin, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Valley Christian put the finishing touches on their 11th blowout victory of the season on Tuesday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Crismon 60-28 on the road. Given Valley Christian's advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 29th, while Crismon is ranked 212th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Benjamin Franklin's win was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 14-9. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 54.4 points per game. As for Valley Christian, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 14 of their last 15 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 18-3 record this season.
Benjamin Franklin lost to Valley Christian at home by a decisive 57-40 margin in their previous meeting back in December of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Valley Christian's Ellie Phillips, who scored 31 points along with five steals. Now that Benjamin Franklin knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
