Two dominant guards in Zinan Taylor and Elijah Wilson are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Phalen Leadership Academy Falcon will face off against the Indianapolis Shortridge Blue Devils at 12:00 p.m. on Thursday. Phalen Leadership Academy knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past five games -- so hopefully Indianapolis Shortridge likes a good challenge.
Phalen Leadership Academy's tournament run continued when they took on Salt Fork on Saturday. Phalen Leadership Academy took their match with ease, bagging a 64-36 win over Salt Fork. The Falcon have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four contests by 21 points or more this season.
Drelan Vaden had an outrageously good game as he went 9 for 12 on his way to 21 points and five rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Ja'Ceon Long, who went 6 of 8 on his way to 12 points.
Meanwhile, Indianapolis Shortridge took a blow against Fishers last Saturday, falling 93-64. While losing is never fun, the Blue Devils can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 222nd, while the Tigers are ranked first).
Phalen Leadership Academy will have to keep a close watch on Wilson and Gavin Lowery, a pair of players who had a big impact on Indianapolis Shortridge's prior game. Wilson went 10 of 22 on his way to 35 points in addition to five boards and three steals, while Lowery posted 22 points and five steals. That was a full 34.4% of Indianapolis Shortridge's points, marking the third time in a row he's put up more than a third of the team's points.
Phalen Leadership Academy is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games, which provided a massive bump to their 5-5 record this season. As for Indianapolis Shortridge, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 3-5.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as both are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Phalen Leadership Academy hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 69.2 points per game. However, it's not like Indianapolis Shortridge struggles in that department as they've been averaging 58.9 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Phalen Leadership Academy won a matchup that couldn't have been any closer when the teams last played back in December of 2023, slipping by Indianapolis Shortridge 67-66. Does Phalen Leadership Academy have another victory up their sleeve, or will Indianapolis Shortridge turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
