Basketball Recap: Centennial Comes Up Short

Centennial has been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. They fell 66-57 to the Central Bobcats on Friday. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Wednesday (56), the Coyotes still had to take the loss.

Johnny Rios

Field Goal Percentage

01/20/26 @ Ironwood	22%
12/27/25 vs Salpointe Catholic	25%
12/03/25 vs O'Connor	30%
11/29/25 vs Pinnacle	32%
11/26/25 vs Eastmark	33%

Loss or not, Centennial got some senior leadership from Johnny Rios and Aidan Delafield. Rios shot 67% from the field on his way to 16 points and six boards, while Delafield posted ten points along with eight rebounds and three steals. Those 67% field goal percentage set a new season-high mark for Rios. Sekou Sackor was another key player, putting up eight points.

It was another big night for John Mattingly, who went 12-for-18 en route to 32 points for Central. The game was Mattingly's 15th in a row with at least 15 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Dominic Rojas, who put up 17 points.

Centennial's defeat dropped their record down to 14-6. As for Central, their win was their 21st straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 23-2.

Centennial didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 61-58 victory against Sunrise Mountain on the 3rd. As for Central, they have also already played their next matchup, a 79-58 win against Carl Hayden Community on the 3rd.