Basketball Game Preview: Foundation Academy Lions vs. Forest Lake Academy Panthers

The Foundation Academy Lions will square off against the Forest Lake Academy Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Foundation Academy has three straight wins, Forest Lake Academy has five straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Last Tuesday, Foundation Academy earned a 62-53 victory over Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy. Given the Lions 's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 115th, while the Tigers are ranked 346th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Foundation Academy can attribute much of their success to Riley Michels, who almost dropped a double-double on 16 points and nine blocks, and Alex Nichols, who posted 19 points along with seven assists and seven boards. Michels' evening made it three games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. Nate Waldon was another key player, going 7 of 13 on his way to 14 points and seven rebounds.

Meanwhile, Forest Lake Academy came up short against Father Lopez on Wednesday and fell 54-46.

Foundation Academy is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 6-2 record this season. As for Forest Lake Academy, their loss ended a four-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 1-5.

Everything came up roses for Foundation Academy against Forest Lake Academy in their previous matchup back in November of 2023, as the squad secured a 67-16 win. In that matchup, Foundation Academy amassed a halftime lead of 36-9, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Thursday.