Basketball Game Preview: Prairie Ridge Wolves vs. Central Rockets

Prairie Ridge is 1-9 against Central since January of 2020 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Prairie Ridge Wolves will be playing in front of their home fans against the Central Rockets at 7:00 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Prairie Ridge is returning to their home court after beating McHenry on theirs, despite the fact McHenry has dominated at home this season. Prairie Ridge came out on top against McHenry by a score of 61-48 on Friday. The win was all the more spectacular given the Wolves' disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 360th, while the Warriors are ranked 60th).

Meanwhile, Central posted their closest victory since December 28, 2024 on Friday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Huntley, sneaking past 73-70.

Central's win came from a few key players Prairie Ridge will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was LJ Kerr, who posted 17 points and five boards. That's the most points he has posted since back in December of 2024. Another player making a difference was Patrick Shell, who went 5 for 8 en route to 16 points and eight rebounds.

Prairie Ridge's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 10-17. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 55.0 points over those games. As for Central, they have been performing well recently as they've won ten of their last 13 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 19-8 record this season.

Prairie Ridge was dealt a bruising 67-35 loss at the hands of Central in their previous matchup back in January. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Kerr, who went 5 of 6 to rack up 14 points in addition to six assists and five steals. Now that Prairie Ridge knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.