Two dominant in Braden Johnson and Levi Cavalli are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. Bethel Christian will head out on the road to face off against the Hayfork Timberjacks at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
On Tuesday, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Bethel Christian beat Big Valley 42-38. The victory was just what Bethel Christian needed coming off of a 65-27 loss in their prior game.
Bethel Christian's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Rad Schenkenberger, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 17 rebounds, and Johnson, who scored 21 points along with seven rebounds and four steals. That makes it four consecutive games in which Johnson has scored at least a third of Bethel Christian's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Abraham Mast, who scored six points along with six rebounds and three steals.
Meanwhile, Hayfork had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 24 points), and they went ahead and made it five on Tuesday. They put the hurt on Happy Camp with a sharp 51-31 win. Hayfork has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight contests by 20 points or more this season.
Hayfork found their leader in underclassman Cavalli, who almost dropped a triple-double on 14 points, nine rebounds, and ten steals. Cavalli has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last nine times he's played. Another player making a difference was Anthony Bonelli, who scored 12 points along with eight rebounds.
Bethel Christian pushed their record up to 3-8 with that victory, which was their third straight at home. As for Hayfork, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 13-6 record this season.
Bethel Christian was taken down by Hayfork 62-30 when the teams last played back in December of 2023. The game was all but decided by halftime, at which point Bethel Christian was down 43-14.
