The First Baptist Saints will square off against the Live Oak Classical Falcons at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday. First Baptist is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 63.6 points per game this season.
First Baptist is probably headed into the match with a chip on their shoulder considering Brook Hill just ended the team's four-game winning streak on Saturday. They were just a bucket shy of victory and fell 50-49 to the Guard.
Georgia Alford
| 12/28/24 vs Brook Hill | 13 |
| 11/25/24 vs Gainesville | 12 |
| 12/17/24 @ Heritage Christian | 12 |
| 11/19/24 vs Yavneh Academy | 12 |
| 11/26/24 vs Sacred Heart | 11 |
The losing side was boosted by Georgia Alford, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 13 boards. The dominant performance gave her a new career-high in boards. Another player making a difference was Allison Munnerlyn, who posted five points and five rebounds.
Even though they lost, First Baptist smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 20 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 18 consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Live Oak Classical came tearing into Friday's contest with eight straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 28 points) and they left with even more momentum. They came out on top against the Panthers by a score of 30-17. That's two games straight that the Falcons have won by exactly 13 points.
Live Oak Classical's win came from a few key players First Baptist will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Stella Sriram, who earned six points and three steals. She has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last three times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Miriam Carl, who had four points and seven rebounds.
Live Oak Classical's win bumped their record up to 12-5. As for First Baptist, their loss dropped their record down to 18-3.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: First Baptist has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 37.9 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Live Oak Classical struggles in that department as they've been averaging 24.2 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
First Baptist beat Live Oak Classical 54-42 in their previous matchup back in December of 2023. Will First Baptist repeat their success, or does Live Oak Classical have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
