The Pathway Christian Panthers will face off against the Faith Christian Falcons at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Pathway Christian has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the match with nine straight losses, while Faith Christian will come in with 15 straight victories.
Last Tuesday, Pathway Christian came up short against Tri-State Christian and fell 25-16.
Pathway Christian got a good chunk of their points from the dynamic duo of Lorena Helmuth and Bristol Gingerich, who each put up six points. Stella Gehman took the lead distributing the ball, coming up with two assists.
Meanwhile, you're bound to get a positive result if you outscore your opponent every quarter, and that's exactly how it played out for Faith Christian on Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that they blew Unity Christian out of the water with a 55-26 final score. The Falcons have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won ten contests by 26 points or more this season.
Faith Christian's win came from a few key players Pathway Christian will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Gwen Hodson, who went 7 for 12 on her way to 15 points and six boards. She has been hot for a while, having also posted two or more steals the last 15 times she's played. Another player making a difference was Emma Royer, who posted 11 points and five assists.
Faith Christian was working as a unit and finished the game with 14 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Unity Christian only posted eight assists.
Faith Christian pushed their record up to 20-2 with the win, which was their tenth straight at home. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 20.3 points per game. As for Pathway Christian, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-11.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Pathway Christian has been crashing the rebounds this season, having averaged 28.3 boards per game. However, it's not like Faith Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 28.6 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Pathway Christian was dealt a bruising 61-31 loss at the hands of Faith Christian when the teams last played back in November of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Hodson, who went 9 of 12 en route to 20 points and three steals. Now that Pathway Christian knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
