The Christ the King Crusaders struggled with offensive rebounds on Saturday (the Ardrey Kell Knights had ten more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Christ the King took a hard 65-51 fall against Ardrey Kell. While losing is never fun, Christ the King can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 468th, while Ardrey Kell is ranked 196th).
Several Crusaders players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Cooper Ryan, who scored 15 points. Those 15 points set a new season-high mark for Ryan. Marco Tampoya was another key contributor, scoring ten points along with seven rebounds.
Ardrey Kell was led to victory by Caden Caskey and Delani Hammonds. Caskey scored 28 points, while Hammonds dropped a double-double on 12 points and 11 assists. The matchup was Caskey's sixth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Bryceton Thomas, who scored nine points along with nine rebounds.
This is the second loss in a row for Christ the King and nudges their season record down to 2-3. As for Ardrey Kell, the victory makes it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 3-3.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Christ the King will challenge Pine Lake Prep at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Allowing an average of 71 points per game, Pine Lake Prep has struggled on the defensive end, but that doesn't have to be the case in this match. As for Ardrey Kell, they will head out on the road to face off against Porter Ridge at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Porter Ridge is coming into the match on a four-game losing streak.
