NCISAA 1A Final 4 – X Factors

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We're down to 4 teams in every classification except 3A, and it's time to check out the four teams left in the 1A classification. Read below for our impact players and matchup predictions on the two matchups Tuesday night.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Crossroads Christian (26-7) @ United Faith Christian (30-2)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Colts of Crossroads Christian will need a big performance if they want to play spoiler to a dominant UFCA team. The Colts are led by a veteran group that starts with wing [player_tooltip player_id='1154649' first='John' last='Henderson']. [player_tooltip player_id='1059714' first='D'Markus' last='Tucker'] will be key to winning the interior battle for them as a big post player, and <strong>Ben Gladieux</strong> and <strong>Shane Anthony</strong> will have to have big nights of their own on the scoreboard to keep up with the UFCA firepower. Anthony in particular will need to showcase the three point shooting ability he has in order to shoot them back into a game or keep them in the game. UFCA has such a balanced attack that it's hard to say who ISN'T a key guy. Senior wings [player_tooltip player_id='1204932' first='Alex' last='Bates'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1315501' first='Lance' last='Gill'] are the leaders both scoring and leadership wise, but guys like [player_tooltip player_id='1241705' first='Evan' last='Morton'], [player_tooltip player_id='1672428' first='Logan' last='Johnson'], and [player_tooltip player_id='1226598' first='Bryce' last='Slay'] are all guards who contribute different things on offense. [player_tooltip player_id='1046670' first='Isaiah' last='Sutherland'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1076353' first='Dylan' last='Deluca'] are more interior oriented, slashing guys that make big plays on defense and on the boards as well. Every man in the rotation is a talented player in his own right, and that depth makes UFCA a very difficult matchup for anybody. UFCA is a clear favorite, but it will be interesting to see how long the Colts can fight them for.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Victory Christian (17-6) @ Northside Christian (20-14)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The other matchup is one that should be a tight one, with key guys on both sides. Victory Christian is led by junior <strong>Jordan Floyd</strong>, who's a slasher at heart. He's joined by 8th grader <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2146777' first='Ethan' last='Daniel']</strong>, who continues to get better each year and is a name to watch when he hits high school. <strong>Caleb Dixon</strong> and <strong>Micah Rayfield</strong> will also contribute additional scoring pop for the Patriots, who will need a lot of it to keep up with Northside. The Knights are a hot shooting team, and it starts with point guard <strong>Kyrell Shaw</strong>. He and [player_tooltip player_id='1278076' first='Antonio' last='Perkins'] both shoot over 50% from behind the arc. <strong>Josh Bullock </strong>finds them when they're open, and shoots it really well from deep himself. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2235113' first='Arael' last='Jones']</strong> and unsigned senior <strong>Kamar Goudelock</strong> will provide defensive pop and complementary scoring support when those three need a break. I like the Knights here, but it should be a fun game throughout.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->