St. Croix Lutheran handed Concordia Academy its only Tri-Metro Conference East Division loss this season, an 83-54 blowout on Jan. 15.
On Tuesday, the Crusaders look to repeat the performance in a rematch against the Beacons in what may be a tonic for a team coming coming off a pair of difficult losses.
St. Croix Lutheran is reeling after falling to Tri-Metro West Division rivals DeLaSalle (61-47 on Feb. 1) and Holy Angels (70-61 on Feb. 5), and the Crusaders (14-7, 4-0) need a strong response this week. They'll turn to a core of four players who have scored 20 or more points in a game this season, led by Luci Hauge (11.6 ppg), to keep pace with a bruised Beacons team.
After losing to St. Croix Lutheran, Concordia bounced back by going on a six-game win streak — a run that ended last Saturday with a 70-49 loss to No. 8-3A DeLaSalle. A win on Tuesday would put the Beacons (14-7, 4-1) a half-game ahead of the Crusaders in the division standings with two games left to play.
A scoring outburst on Tuesday from Ivane Tensaie or Lydia Lecher, who have each had games with 30 or more points this season, could be what Concordia can use to keep the Crusaders at bay.