After five games on the road, Turlock Christian is heading back home. They will take on the Stone Ridge Christian Knights at 7:15 p.m. on Saturday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the pair will really light up the scoreboard.
On Tuesday, things could have been worse for Turlock Christian, but they could have been a whole lot better as they took a 76-57 loss to Big Valley Christian. While losing is never fun, Turlock Christian can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 1242nd, while Big Valley Christian is ranked 600th).
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Raphael Babba, who scored 22 points along with nine rebounds and four steals. That was a full 38.6% of Turlock Christian's points, marking the third time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Ben Bylsma, who scored 15 points along with eight rebounds.
Meanwhile, Stone Ridge Christian unfortunately witnessed the end of their five-game winning streak on Tuesday. They ended up on the wrong side of a rough 92-66 walloping at the hands of Venture Academy. Stone Ridge Christian has struggled against Venture Academy recently, as their match on Tuesday was their sixth consecutive lost matchup.
Turlock Christian has not been sharp recently, as they've lost four of their last five matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-13 record this season. As for Stone Ridge Christian, their loss dropped their record down to 16-7.
Turlock Christian was dealt a bruising 81-52 loss at the hands of Stone Ridge Christian when the teams last played on January 9th. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Stone Ridge Christian's Daijon O?neil, who scored 27 points along with six assists and five steals. Now that Turlock Christian knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
