The Orangewood Christian Rams will be staying on the road on Thursday to face off against the Orlando Christian Prep Warriors on February 8th. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Orangewood Christian had no problem doing just that on Tuesday. They pulled ahead with a 61-60 photo finish over the Comets. The win was just what Orangewood Christian needed coming off of a 76-42 loss in their prior match.
Orangewood Christian's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Ben Barber, who scored 17 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Roby McClarnon, who scored 13 points.
Meanwhile, Orlando Christian Prep was fully in charge on Thursday, breezing past Cocoa 73-27 at home. Given Orlando Christian Prep's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 17th, while Cocoa is ranked 474th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Orlando Christian Prep relied on the efforts of Jemeh Jones, who scored 14 points along with eight rebounds and seven steals, and Ameer Ramadan, who went 6 for 11 from beyond the arc en route to 20 points and 6 assists. Marc Ekiri was another key contributor, almost dropping a double-double on 12 points and nine rebounds.
Orangewood Christian's win bumped their record up to 7-16. As for Orlando Christian Prep, they pushed their record up to 19-4 with that win, which was their fourth straight at home.
