Two dominant guards in Dwayne Foreman III and Jordan Corman are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Hope Academy Trojan Tigers will look to defend their home court on Wednesday against the East Ridge Knights at 7:00 p.m. The pair have had a bumpy ride up to this point with three consecutive losses for Hope Academy and 21 for East Ridge.
Hope Academy pushed their score all the way to 65 on Saturday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell 72-65 to Downey Christian. Hope Academy found out winning isn't easy when your three-point shooting is a whole 21% worse than the opposition.
Despite the loss, Hope Academy saw an underclassman step up: Foreman III scored 23 points along with seven assists and seven steals. That was a full 35.4% of Hope Academy's points, marking the fifth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Willie Griggs was another key contributor, scoring eight points along with five rebounds and two steals.
East Ridge suffered their biggest loss since December 15, 2023 on Monday. They took a serious blow against Umatilla, falling 72-41. East Ridge has not had much luck with Umatilla recently, as the team's come up short the last three times they've met.
Despite the defeat, East Ridge got a solid performance out of Corman, who scored seven points along with ten rebounds and three steals. Corman hasn't dropped below two steals for six straight games. Another player making a difference was Braden Simmons, who scored nine points along with seven rebounds.
Hope Academy has not been sharp recently, as they've lost four of their last five matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 16-9 record this season. As for East Ridge, their loss was their 11th straight on the road, which bumped their record down to 0-19.
Hope Academy was able to grind out a solid victory over East Ridge when the teams last played on Tuesday, winning 71-61. Does Hope Academy have another victory up their sleeve, or will East Ridge turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
