American Leadership Academy was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their fifth straight loss. They were three points away from ending the streak, but they lost a 55-52 heartbreaker at the hands of the Batesburg-Leesville Panthers. Unfortunately, that's the second time they've come up short against the Patriots this season, as they also lost their prior matchup 61-53 two weeks ago.

Payton Miles
02/07/25 @ Batesburg-Leesville | 23 |
12/16/24 @ North | 20 |
01/25/25 vs Batesburg-Leesville | 18 |
12/13/24 @ Fox Creek | 18 |
02/04/25 vs Strom Thurmond | 15 |
When it comes to explaining why American Leadership Academy lost, don't look at Payton Miles. Despite the final result, he dropped a double-double on 23 points and 12 boards. Those 23 points gave Miles a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Bryce Newton, who posted ten points.
Batesburg-Leesville's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Ta'Maj Gilliam, who put up 18 points and five steals. Gilliam has been hot, having posted two or more steals the last five times he's played. Braylen Davis was another key player, putting up 17 points and six rebounds.
American Leadership Academy's defeat dropped their record down to 5-17. As for Batesburg-Leesville, the win was the third in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 13-7.
Coming up, American Leadership Academy will host Ninety Six at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. We've got a battle between Panthers coming up. Batesburg-Leesville is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 51.1 points per game this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps