The Harrells Christian Academy Crusaders will head out on the road to challenge the Northwood Temple Academy Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Harrells Christian Academy knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past eight matchups -- so hopefully Northwood Temple Academy likes a good challenge.
Harrells Christian Academy's tournament run continued when they took on Goldsboro on Saturday. Harrells Christian Academy walked away with a 66-55 victory over Goldsboro. Given the Crusaders' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 20th, while the Cougars are ranked 272nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Antonio Mckoy continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, going 13 for 17 on his way to 31 points in addition to six boards and three steals. That makes it three consecutive games in which he has scored at least a third of Harrells Christian Academy's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Dashaun Mckoy, who went 5 of 9 on his way to 15 points along with seven rebounds and three steals.
Harrells Christian Academy smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in eight consecutive games.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Northwood Temple Academy). They came out on top against Eastern Wayne by a score of 113-102 on Saturday.
Northwood Temple Academy's win came from a few key players Harrells Christian Academy will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Kenny Vera, who shot 4-for-6 from downtown and dropped a double-double on 26 points and 11 rebounds. The contest was his fifth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Elijah Kindle, who went 12 of 23 on his way to 30 points and three steals.
Northwood Temple Academy is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 13-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 78.8 points per game. As for Harrells Christian Academy, their record is now 16-2.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Harrells Christian Academy has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 33.3 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Northwood Temple Academy struggles in that department as they've been averaging 30.8 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Harrells Christian Academy took their win against Northwood Temple Academy in their previous matchup back in December of 2023 by a conclusive 81-61. Will Harrells Christian Academy repeat their success, or does Northwood Temple Academy have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
