Jenkintown has enjoyed the comforts of home their last four games, but now they'll head out on the road. They and the Delaware County Christian Knights will face off at 5:30 p.m. on February 5th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
After soaring to a 52-point victory in their last game, Jenkintown came back down to earth on Friday. They fell just short of Philadelphia Montgomery Christian Academy by a score of 54-52. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Jenkintown in their matchups with the Falcons: they've now lost six in a row.
Despite their defeat, Jenkintown saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Desmond Trail, who scored 16 points along with eight rebounds and two steals, was perhaps the best of all. Trail has been hot recently, having posted 16 or more points the last three times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Matty Ecker, who scored ten points along with five assists.
Meanwhile, Delaware County Christian pushed their score all the way to 65 on Saturday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a 74-65 hit to the loss column at the hands of Episcopal Academy. While losing is never fun, Delaware County Christian can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 175th, while the Churchmen are ranked 32nd).
Despite the loss, Delaware County Christian had strong showings from Beau Lyren, who scored 19 points, and Khamai Orange, who scored 20 points along with six rebounds and three steals. Another player making a difference was Bradford Berwick, who scored ten points.
Delaware County Christian struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only three offensive rebounds. That's the fewest offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
Jenkintown's loss dropped their record down to 11-7. As for Delaware County Christian, their loss ended a eight-game streak of away wins and brought them to 13-6.
Monday's match is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Jenkintown have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 33.2 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Delaware County Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 29.2 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Jenkintown came up short against the Knights when the teams last played back in February of 2023, falling 50-43. Can Jenkintown avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
