As the times of Christmas carols and holiday festivities come to a close, school is back in session at Lansing Christian, and that also means both the guys' and girls' basketball teams will resume their rampant schedule of conference games in the rugged CMAC. There are three games this week in which the Pilgrims will be home, and both teams are looking to step up their play as the calendar flips to 2026. On Wednesday, the Boys Varsity squad will host the upstart Bath Bees, followed by a back-to-back slate of Laingsburg on Thursday and Friday night.

For Head Coach Grayson Fuller’s Pilgrims, this is a big week to try and get back on track and take a step forward in the CMAC standings. To start the campaign, the Pilgrims (2-4, 0-4 CMAC) have played some tough battles but are ultimately winless in conference play. In the week before Christmas break, the squad lost two heartbreakers to the Saranac Redhawks and the Dansville Aggies. On the other hand, the Bath Bees (4-4, 2-2 CMAC) are starting to show glimpses of brilliance after a couple of tough rebuilding years. The most recent result was a 12-point loss to a strong Portland St. Patrick team, but the Bees have put together some notable performances. They will be a formidable opponent for the Pilgrims, even though they are traveling to Lansing Christian. The Bees have a very deep squad that goes deep, and lots of players see consistent runs. Leading the returners for The Bees is Brady Smith, who was tabbed All-Conference HM last season. Following the battle with the fighting Bees, the Pilgrims will host a young Laingsburg squad on Friday night, just two years removed from an undefeated regular season and regional championship game appearance. The Wolfpack lost a lot of their scoring from last season's solid squad, including 1st Team All-Conference performer Mitchell George. Coach Tim Bebee’s pack (2-5, 2-3 CMAC) is coming off a harsh blow from Genesee Christian, but did have big conference wins against Bath and Potterville earlier in the season. For the Black and Gold, both these games will be solid contests where Fuller’s squad will need to be firing on all cylinders. Both games are slated to start at 7 PM.

For Jason Salsbury’s Lady Pilgrims, they will play one home game this week, a Thursday night matchup with Laingsburg. Also competing in the rugged CMAC conference, The Pilgrims (2-2, 1-2 CMAC) have battled hard for the first couple of weeks of the season, and came away with a huge road win over The Dansville Aggies before Christmas break. They will host the always-steady Wolfpack (4-1, 2-1 CMAC) on Thursday night, between the men's home games. Last season, these two teams split their pair of conference games with two very close games, so this game should also be a battle from start to finish. The Pilgrims have high hopes of developing their young team this season and finishing in the upper half of the CMAC. Their strong defensive showing against the Aggies before Christmas break showcased their growth as a team, and they look forward to continuing this journey as the calendar flips to 2026.

Looking forward to next week, the girls will host rival Fowler, while the boys plan to host Portland St. Patrick, as the harsh winter continues and the basketball continues to be pounded in the gym floor. 

Student Section Themes:  

Wednesday: “Black-Out”  

Thursday - “PJ Night”  

Friday - “USA”