The Arthur-Okaw Christian Conquering Riders suffered their closest loss yet this season on Friday. They fell just short of Lakecrest Baptist by a score of 54-52. While losing is never fun, Arthur-Okaw Christian can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps's basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 503rd in Illinois, while Lakecrest Baptist is ranked 58th in Michigan).
Despite the defeat, Arthur-Okaw Christian had strong showings from Brock Helmuth, who scored 16 points along with nine rebounds, and Kyson Pflum, who scored 12 points along with nine rebounds and five assists. That's the first time this season that Helmuth pulled down eight or more rebounds. Joshua Skowronski was another key contributor, scoring seven points along with two steals.
Arthur-Okaw Christian's loss dropped their record down to 9-9. As for Lakecrest Baptist, the win (which was their tenth in a row) raised their record to 17-1.
Arthur-Okaw Christian won't have much time to rest: their next game is against State Line Christian at 9:30 a.m. on January 13th. Lakecrest Baptist will be staying on the road on Tuesday to face off against Community Baptist Christian at 5:00 p.m. on January 16th. Community Baptist Christian is on a three-game streak of home wins, Lakecrest Baptist a four-game streak of away wins -- so someone will have to leave a streak behind on the court.
