Basketball Game Preview: Imagine Prep Storm vs. East Valley Athletes for Christ Eagles

Imagine Prep has gone 8-0 against East Valley Athletes for Christ recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Imagine Prep Storm will square off against the East Valley Athletes for Christ Eagles at 7:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

East Valley Athletes for Christ will be up against a hot Imagine Prep team: the squad just extended their winning streak to ten. Imagine Prep simply couldn't be stopped on Tuesday as they easily beat Skyline Prep 74-38. Given the Storm's advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 25th, while the Bengals are ranked 90th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Imagine Prep's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Rich Rodriguez, who went 7 for 11 on his way to 16 points, and Oscar Paparone, who went 5 of 11 en route to 15 points. The dominant performance also gave Paparone a new career-high in assists (four). Another player making a difference was Dallas White, who posted eight points.

Meanwhile, East Valley Athletes for Christ blew past ASU Prep Poly, posting a 78-51 win. Winning may never get old, but the Eagles sure are getting used to it with their eighth in a row.

East Valley Athletes for Christ has also been performing incredibly well recently as they've won nine of their last ten matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 17-3 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 66.6 points per game. As for Imagine Prep, their victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 18-4.

Everything came up roses for Imagine Prep against East Valley Athletes for Christ when the teams last played back in January of 2024, as the team secured a 75-30 win. In that game, Imagine Prep amassed a halftime lead of 35-11, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.