The Christ the King Crusaders will wrap up 2023 with a road trip to face off against the East Lincoln Mustangs at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Two weeks ago, everything went Christ the King's way against Bradford Prep as Christ the King made off with a 70-49 victory. The win made it back-to-back wins for Christ the King.
Marco Tampoya was his usual excellent self, scoring 22 points along with seven rebounds and three steals. That makes it three consecutive games in which he has scored at least 25% of Christ the King's points. Parker Ryan was another key contributor, scoring 16 points along with six rebounds.
East Lincoln has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won three games by 26 points or more this season. They put the hurt on North Gaston with a sharp 76-50 win on Wednesday. Given East Lincoln's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 221st, while North Gaston is ranked 573rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Jackson Fannon continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, going 7 for 10 from beyond the arc en route to 29 points and 0 assists. The match was his eighth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Grant Lawless, who scored ten points along with seven rebounds.
The win got Christ the King back to even at 4-4. As for East Lincoln, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matches, which provided a nice bump to their 4-4 record this season.
This contest is shaping up to be a blowout: Christ the King hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having only averaged 60 points per game. It's a different story for East Lincoln, though, as they've been averaging only 68.4 points per game. The only thing between Christ the King and another offensive beatdown is East Lincoln. Will they be able to keep them contained? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
