The East Central HomeSchool Patriots had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 22.7 points), and they went ahead and made it four on Thursday. They strolled past Ezekiel Academy with points to spare, taking the game 44-25. This was payback for East Central HomeSchool, who suffered a 41-38 loss the last time these two teams met.
East Central HomeSchool was led to victory by Emma Nelson and Hannah Bankston. Nelson scored 14 points along with six steals, while Bankston dropped a double-double on 15 points and ten rebounds. Nelson is absolutely dominating the steal category: she's posted at least two every time she's taken the court this season. Emily Rea was another key contributor, scoring four points along with six rebounds.
Ezekiel Academy lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Addi Newell, who scored nine points along with seven rebounds and two steals. That was a full 36% of Ezekiel Academy's points, marking the third time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Abbie Dunlap, who scored eight points along with two steals.
East Central HomeSchool pushed their record up to 9-2 with that win, which was their 11th straight at home. They've been dominating during the contests in that stretch too, as they've won by an average of 33.64 points. As for Ezekiel Academy, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 14-5.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. East Central HomeSchool won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against Southern Christian at 4:00 p.m. on January 26th. Southern Christian will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Alabama Rankings (they are ranked 321st, while East Central HomeSchool is ranked 84th). As for Ezekiel Academy, they will head out on the road to square off against Evangel Christian at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday.
