The Lafayette Hornets and the Aucilla Christian Warriors will face off at 7:00 p.m. on December 21st without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Lafayette will be looking to keep their five-game home win streak alive.
Last Friday, everything came up roses for Lafayette at home against Branford as the team secured a 52-18 victory. That looming 52-18 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for Lafayette yet this season.
Lafayette found their leader in underclassman Sophia Kendrick, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 16 rebounds. That's the first time this season that Kendrick scored 15 or more points. Ella Hancock was another key contributor, scoring 12 points along with five rebounds and four steals.
Aucilla Christian has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five matchups by 20 points or more this season. They blew past Wewahitchka 59-28 at home. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Aucilla Christian.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Aucilla Christian to victory, but perhaps none more so than Riley Rutledge, who scored 27 points along with three steals. That makes it five consecutive games in which Rutledge has scored at least 25% of Aucilla Christian's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Lauchlin Faglie, who dropped a triple-double on ten rebounds, ten assists, and ten steals.
Lafayette's victory bumped their record up to 6-2. As for Aucilla Christian, their victory bumped their record up to 6-3.
Thursday's matchup is shaping up to be a scrappy matchup: Lafayette have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 33 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Aucilla Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 28.4 rebounds per game. Given Lafayette's sizeable advantage in that area, Aucilla Christian will need to find a way to close that gap.
Lafayette and Aucilla Christian were neck-and-neck when the teams last played back in January of 2022, but Lafayette came up empty-handed after a 36-35 defeat. Can Lafayette avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
