Basketball Game Preview: Lancaster Catholic Crusaders vs. Manheim Central Barons

The Lancaster Catholic Crusaders will head out on the road to challenge the Manheim Central Barons at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Lancaster Catholic is looking for their season's first victory.

Lancaster Catholic is headed into the match out to prove that what happened against Lampeter-Strasburg on Tuesday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Lancaster Catholic lost 66-44 to Lampeter-Strasburg. While losing is never fun, the Crusaders can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 620th, while the Pioneers are ranked 195th).

Meanwhile, after a string of five wins, Manheim Central's good fortune finally ran out on Tuesday. They fell to Octorara Area 60-55.

Lancaster Catholic's defeat dropped their record down to 0-12. As for Manheim Central, their loss was their first in the conference, dropping their conference record down to 4-1 and their overall record down to 12-2.

Lancaster Catholic suffered a grim 57-37 defeat to Manheim Central in their previous meeting back in December of 2024. Can Lancaster Catholic avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.