The Evangelical Christian Sentinels will face off against the Bradenton Christian Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Evangelical Christian is coming into the contest hot, having won their last six games.
Evangelical Christian is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They strolled past First Baptist Academy with points to spare, taking the game 41-26.
Evangelical Christian's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Nalah Smith, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 12 boards. Another player making a difference was Kellisia Grant, who went 5 for 9 en route to 13 points.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Bradenton Christian, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Thursday. They walked away with a 48-36 win over St. Petersburg Catholic on Saturday. The victory continues a trend for the Panthers in their matchups with the Barons: they've now won three in a row.
Evangelical Christian better focus on containing Taylor Blunden and Amelia Dammann as the pair were huge in Bradenton Christian's win. Blunden dropped a double-double on 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Dammann posted 17 points along with seven boards and five steals. Dammann has become a key player for Bradenton Christian: the team is 6-3 when she posts at least five steals, but 7-9 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Avery Blunden, who put up six points.
Bradenton Christian smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive boards they've posted since back in January of 2024.
Evangelical Christian's win bumped their record up to 18-7. As for Bradenton Christian, they now have a winning record of 13-12.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Evangelical Christian has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 30.2 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Bradenton Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 24.4 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
