The Village Christian Crusaders entered their tilt with the Birmingham Patriots with four consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with five. Village Christian strolled past Birmingham with points to spare on Wednesday, taking the game 72-53. That result was just more of the same for these two, as Village Christian also won the last time the pair played back in December of 2021.
Village Christian's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Alanna Neale led the charge by scoring 20 points along with 6 rebounds and 6 steals. The match was Neale's fourth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Layla Davis, who scored 18 points along with 7 rebounds and 3 steals.
Birmingham's loss came despite strong showings from Annette Jones and Natalie E. Lopez. Jones scored 18 points, while E. Lopez scored 11 points along with 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Jones is absolutely dominating the steal category: she's posted at least two every time she's taken the court this season.
Village Christian's victory bumped their record up to 5-1. As for Birmingham, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-1.
Village Christian will square off against Eisenhower at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. Eisenhower will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps California Rankings (they are ranked 312th, while Village Christian is ranked 24th). As for Birmingham, they will be playing at home against La Jolla Country Day at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. La Jolla Country Day knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past three contests -- so hopefully Birmingham likes a good challenge.
