Basketball Game Preview: Valley Central Vikings vs. Newburgh Free Academy Goldbacks

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Previous Games

12/04/23 - Home	53-23 W
02/11/23 - Away	44-43 W
12/21/22 - Home	49-23 W
01/31/22 - Away	43-61 L
12/20/21 - Home	38-51 L
+ 5 more games

Valley Central has gone 8-2 against Newburgh Free Academy recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The Valley Central Vikings will face off against the Newburgh Free Academy Goldbacks at 6:30 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Valley Central has four straight wins, Newburgh Free Academy has four straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Last Tuesday, Valley Central got the win against Monticello by a conclusive 48-23. With the Vikings ahead 25-5 at the half, the matchup was all but over already.

Meanwhile, Newburgh Free Academy came up short against Middletown on Tuesday and fell 61-50. While losing is never fun, the Goldbacks can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New York basketball rankings (they are ranked 345th, while the Middie Bears are ranked 57th).

Valley Central's victory bumped their record up to 8-6. As for Newburgh Free Academy, their loss dropped their record down to 5-12.

Everything came up roses for Valley Central against Newburgh Free Academy when the teams last played back in December of 2023, as the squad secured a 53-23 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Valley Central since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.