The First Baptist Crusaders will challenge Community Christian at 6:45 p.m. on Monday.
Last Tuesday, First Baptist ended up a good deal behind Prior Lake Christian and lost 65-47. While losing is never fun, the Crusaders can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Minnesota basketball rankings (they are ranked 281st, while the Royals are ranked 88th).
The match pitted two dominant guards against one another in Caleb Lindsay and Elijah Wilson. Wilson had a great game and dropped a double-double on 22 points and 14 boards. Meanwhile, Lindsay did his best for the losing side, putting up eight points.
Meanwhile, Community Christian made easy work of Immanuel Lutheran back in December of 2024 and carried off a 53-28 victory. Community Christian has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four contests by 20 points or more this season.
First Baptist better focus on containing Brady Reinertson and David Mulder as the pair were huge in Community Christian's win. Reinertson went 9 of 20 on his way to 19 points along with seven boards and seven steals, while Mulder made all 7 shots he took to post 16 points and six steals. The match was Reinertson's third in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Andrew Borstad, who posted nine points.
Community Christian's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 6-2. As for First Baptist, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 4-6.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: First Baptist has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 32.7 boards per game. However, it's not like Community Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 33.6 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
First Baptist came up short against Community Christian in their previous matchup back in November of 2024, falling 68-58. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Reinertson, who went 11 of 22 on his way to 35 points in addition to six rebounds and four steals. Now that First Baptist knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
