The Hollins Royals pushed their score all the way to 62 on Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell 71-62 to Lakeside Christian. Hollins has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Hollins' loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Aidan Lemons, who scored 19 points along with five rebounds. The match was Lemons' sixth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Kaiden Bishop, who scored 16 points.
Lakeside Christian's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Blaise Tshibangu led the charge by scoring 19 points along with seven rebounds and five steals. Those 19 points set a new season-high mark for him. Sherwin Simmons was another key contributor, dropping a triple-double on 12 points, 11 rebounds, and ten assists.
Hollins has not been sharp recently, as they've lost four of their last five matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 9-6 record this season. As for Lakeside Christian, they are on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last ten matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 11-5 record this season.
Hollins will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on St. Petersburg at 8:00 p.m. on January 9th. One thing working in St. Petersburg's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last four matchups. Lakeside Christian will have some time to savor their win since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on Canterbury at 6:30 p.m. on January 9th. Canterbury will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Florida Rankings (they are ranked 658th, while Lakeside Christian is ranked 230th).
