Basketball Game Preview: Cumberland Valley Eagles vs. Central Dauphin Rams

The Cumberland Valley Eagles will square off against the Central Dauphin Rams at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Cumberland Valley comes in on nine and Central Dauphin on four.

Last Tuesday, Cumberland Valley beat Ephrata 61-48. Given the Eagles' advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked seventh, while the Mountaineers are ranked 208th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Cumberland Valley to victory, but perhaps none more so than Creston Austin, who went 6-for-9 en route to 20 points and seven boards. Nolan Buzalka was another key player, dropping a double-double with 15 points and ten rebounds.

Meanwhile, Central Dauphin was able to grind out a solid win over Muhlenberg on Tuesday, taking the game 69-61.

Central Dauphin's win came from a few key players Cumberland Valley will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Jelani Easter, who went 8-for-13 to rack up 18 points and five boards. He is also on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in each of the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Wayne Fletcher II, who dropped a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds.

Central Dauphin pushed their record up to 18-4 with the victory, which was their seventh straight at home. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.6 points over those games. As for Cumberland Valley, their win bumped their record up to 22-3.

Cumberland Valley skirted past Central Dauphin 63-60 in their previous matchup back in January. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Fletcher II, who went 9-for-21 on his way to 31 points in addition to seven boards and six assists. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Cumberland Valley still be able to contain Fletcher II? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.