Preview: Imperial Tigers vs. Central Spartans
Imperial is on a three-game streak of home wins, while Central is on a three-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Imperial Tigers will take on the Central Spartans at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
On Tuesday, Imperial narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past Vincent Memorial 58-56.
Imperial's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was David Scariano, who dropped a double-double on 20 points and ten rebounds. Scariano is on a roll when it comes to rebounds, as he's now pulled down ten or more in the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Jared Nixon, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Central beat Calexico 69-59 on Tuesday.
Central's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Arturo Estrada, who almost dropped a double-double on 18 points and nine assists. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Estrada has scored all season. Daimaggio Wyatt was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on 19 points and 14 rebounds.
Imperial is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 12-15 record this season. As for Central, their victory bumped their record up to 13-11.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the two teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Imperial hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 55.3 points per game. However, it's not like Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging 55.8 points per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Imperial and Central were neck-and-neck in their previous meeting back in January, but Imperial came up empty-handed after a 67-66 loss. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Central's Jared Martin, who scored 26 points along with six rebounds and two steals. Now that Imperial knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
