Basketball Recap: Oak City Prep Comes Up Short

It's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 109-45, which was the final score in the Oak City Prep Bears's tilt against the Freedom Christian Academy Patriots on Thursday. While losing is never fun, the Bears can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 416th, while the Patriots are ranked 197th).

Amazin Dixon

Points

12/19/24 @ Freedom Christian Academy	16
12/10/24 @ Lab University Prep Varsity	21
12/04/24 @ Oak Hill Academy	22
11/26/24 @ Varsity Opponent	27
11/20/24 @ Lab University Prep Regional	24

Oak City Prep's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Amazin Dixon, who went 7 of 14 on his way to 16 points in addition to six boards and three steals. The matchup was Dixon's seventh in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Tiyeon Wilson, who posted eight points along with seven rebounds and three steals.

Leading Freedom Christian Academy to victory were Karsten Swinney and Bryce West. Swinney almost dropped a double-double on 37 points and nine assists, while West put up 31 points in addition to six assists and five steals. That makes it three consecutive games in which Swinney has scored at least a third of Freedom Christian Academy's points. Another player making a difference was Haidyn Bell, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and ten boards.

Oak City Prep has been struggling recently as they've lost five of their last six contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-8 record this season. That patch can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.8 points per game. As for Freedom Christian Academy, the victory was the third in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 7-7.

Oak City Prep will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on Wayne Preparatory Academy at 7:00 p.m. on January 6, 2025. Freedom Christian Academy and Harrells Christian Academy will round out the year against one another at at 4:00 p.m. on December 27th. One thing working in Freedom Christian Academy's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points every time they've taken the court this season.