Basketball Game Preview: Reagan Bison vs. Central Rockets

The Reagan Bison will head out on the road to face off against the Central Rockets at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Reagan took a loss when they played away from home on Monday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Tuesday. They walked away with a 60-48 victory over Archbishop McCarthy. Given the Bison's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 35th, while the Mavericks are ranked 185th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Reagan's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Sebastian Gonzalez led the charge by dropping a double-double on 27 points and ten rebounds. That makes it five consecutive games in which Gonzalez has scored at least a third of Reagan's points. Another player making a difference was Ronal Hodelin, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 14 rebounds.

Reagan was working as a unit and finished the game with 18 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Central). They were the clear victor by a 91-69 margin over Coral Reef on Tuesday. The win was nothing new for the Rockets as they're now sitting on four straight.

Reagan is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine games, which provided a nice bump to their 9-3 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 59.8 points per game. As for Central, their victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 5-2.

Reagan took a serious blow against Central in their previous matchup back in January of 2015, falling 75-28. That match was all but decided by halftime, at which point Reagan was down 40-14.