The New Life Christian Academy Monarchs will challenge the Oak City Prep Bears at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. New Life Christian Academy is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 63.1 points per game this season.
New Life Christian Academy is headed into the matchup having just suffered their closest defeat since November 30, 2024 last Monday. They fell just short of Westover by a score of 57-54. The Monarchs have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Asany Richmond
| 01/20/25 vs Westover | 23 |
| 01/18/25 @ Elevation Prep Academy | 15 |
| 01/16/25 vs Capitol Encore Academy | 16 |
| 01/13/25 @ Howard | 30 |
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Asany Richmond, who almost dropped a double-double on 23 points and nine rebounds. His afternoon made it four games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Kyle Baldwin, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 12 boards.
Even though they lost, New Life Christian Academy smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 12 offensive boards in five consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Oak City Prep was beaten by Word of God Christian Academy National 94-47 on Monday. While losing is never fun, the Bears can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 421st, while the Holy Rams are ranked 55th).
Despite the loss, Oak City Prep saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Amazin Dixon went 11 of 17 on his way to 24 points and seven assists. Dixon has been hot for a while, having posted 15 or more points the last 13 times he's played. Luke Rullo was another key player, going 6 for 11 en route to 16 points.
Oak City Prep's defeat dropped their record down to 6-11. As for New Life Christian Academy, their loss dropped their record down to 10-15.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: New Life Christian Academy has been crashing the rebounds this season, having averaged 29.3 boards per game. However, it's not like Oak City Prep struggles in that department as they've been averaging 26.5 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
New Life Christian Academy didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Oak City Prep in their previous meeting back in December of 2024, but they still walked away with a 78-74 win. Will New Life Christian Academy repeat their success, or does Oak City Prep have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
