Two dominant guards in Keniel Velez and Maylon Marte are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Vine Christian Academy Kings on the road again on Saturday and play against the Downey Christian Patriots at 1:00 p.m. on January 27th. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Vine Christian Academy struggled with assists on Saturday (212 Sports Academy had 12 more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Vine Christian Academy fell to 212 Sports Academy 62-58.
Vine Christian Academy might have lost, but man, Velez was a machine: he shot 7-for-14 from long range and dropped a double-double on 34 points and ten rebounds. That was a full 58.6% of Vine Christian Academy's points, marking the eighth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Luis Carias was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on 14 points and ten rebounds.
Meanwhile, Downey Christian earned a 80-69 win over Bilingual Christian Academy & Tech on Monday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Downey Christian.
Downey Christian got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Patrick Olajuwon out in front who dropped a double-double on 27 points and 15 rebounds. Olajuwon is on a roll when it comes to rebounds, as he's now pulled down eight or more in the last 16 games he's played. Another player making a difference was Marte, who scored 27 points along with eight rebounds and two steals.
Vine Christian Academy now has a losing record at 6-7. As for Downey Christian, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a nice bump to their 15-5 record this season.
Everything came up roses for Vine Christian Academy against Downey Christian in their previous meeting back in February of 2023 as the team secured a 91-49 victory. With Vine Christian Academy ahead 49-24 at the half, the match was all but over already.
