Preview: Center Roughriders vs. Westwood Panthers
The Center Roughriders will be playing in front of their home fans against the Westwood Panthers at 8:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Center came tearing into Friday's contest with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 22 points) and they left with even more momentum. They blew past Carthage 74-34 at home. The game was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 37-17.
Center got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Tim Johnson out in front who scored 19 points along with seven rebounds and two steals. Johnson is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last four games he's played. Another player making a difference was Jimmarion (Ja) Smith, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and ten rebounds.
Meanwhile, Westwood scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Tuesday. They claimed a resounding 90-45 win over Teague at home. Given Westwood's advantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 367th, while Teague is ranked 1003rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Westwood found their leader in underclassman Kavian Bryant, who scored 36 points. That makes it three consecutive games in which Bryant has scored at least a third of Westwood's points. Daniel Robinson was another key contributor, scoring 12 points.
Center has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won ten of their last 11 contests, which provided a massive bump to their 19-9 record this season. As for Westwood, they pushed their record up to 23-7 with that win, which was their sixth straight at home.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Center have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 28.5 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Westwood struggles in that department as they've been averaging 34.6 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other basketball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
