St. Francis hasn't had much luck against Central recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The two teams will face off at 9:00 a.m. without much rest having both just played. St. Francis has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.
St. Francis is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They took a 76-62 bruising from Neuqua Valley on Thursday.
| 12/26/24 vs Neuqua Valley | 17 |
| 12/07/24 @ Boylan Catholic | 7 |
| 12/12/24 vs IC Catholic Prep | 6 |
| 12/23/24 vs Marist | 5 |
| 12/11/24 vs St. Charles North | 5 |
Defeat or not, St. Francis got some senior leadership from T?a Rubino and Riley Austin. Rubino posted 17 points along with seven rebounds and five assists, while Austin had 19 points in addition to six rebounds and six steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Rubino has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Alyssa Freeman, who put up ten points.
Even though they lost, St. Francis was working as a unit and finished the game with 15 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Central was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their fourth straight loss. They came up short against Naperville North, falling 65-44. While losing is never fun, the Rockets can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 448th, while the Huskies are ranked 200th).
St. Francis will need focus on slowing down Julia Scheuer, one of several Central players who made an impact when they last played. She went 5 of 12 on her way to 10 points and seven rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Ashley Waslo, who posted nine points.
St. Francis' defeat dropped their record down to 2-9. As for Central, their loss dropped their record down to 3-9.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: St. Francis has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 27 boards per game. However, it's not like Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging 25.1 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
St. Francis came up short against Central in their previous matchup back in December of 2022, falling 47-36. Can St. Francis avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
