Banks Academy is 0-6 against Evangel Christian since December of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Banks Academy Jets will wrap up 2023 with a road trip to face off against the Evangel Christian Lightning at 6:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Last Thursday, everything went Banks Academy's way against Restoration Academy as Banks Academy made off with a 70-50 victory. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Banks Academy.
Meanwhile, Evangel Christian humbled Restoration Academy with a 68-39 victory. Given Evangel Christian's advantage in MaxPreps' Alabama basketball rankings (they are ranked 50th, while Restoration Academy is ranked 170th), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.
Evangel Christian relied on the efforts of Clay Stanton, who scored 15 points along with six rebounds, and Zion Thompson, who scored 12 points along with five rebounds and four steals. Those 15 points set a new season-high mark for him. The team also got some help courtesy of Hayden Black, who scored six points along with nine rebounds.
Banks Academy's victory bumped their record up to 5-3. As for Evangel Christian, their win bumped their record up to 11-1.
Banks Academy might still be hurting after the 72-47 defeat they got from Evangel Christian in their previous matchup back in January. Can Banks Academy avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
