The New Hope Leadership Academy Gladiators managed to keep up with the Lee Central Stallions until halftime on Thursday, but things quickly went downhill from there. New Hope Leadership Academy ended up on the wrong side of a rough 73-48 walloping at the hands of Lee Central. The result shouldn't come as a shock considering that's the fewest points New Hope Leadership Academy has scored all season.
Despite the loss, New Hope Leadership Academy still got an impressive performance from Sugar Eaton , who scored 14 points along with five rebounds. Eaton scored a full 29.2% of New Hope Leadership Academy's points, the eighth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Levi Hoggons, who scored 11 points.
New Hope Leadership Academy struggled to work together and finished the game with only four assists. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Lee Central racked up 19 assists.
Lee Central's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Kiauj Allen, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 11 rebounds. The match was Allen's seventh in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jamisen Wilds, who scored 22 points.
New Hope Leadership Academy's loss dropped their record down to 4-4. As for Lee Central, the win makes it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 8-4.
New Hope Leadership Academy will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on Anderson C at 7:00 p.m. on January 8th. Lee Central and Battery Creek will face off at 3:00 p.m. on December 29, 2023 without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in South Carolina (Battery Creek is ranked 116th, while Lee Central is ranked 123rd).
