Preview: Kennedy Cougars vs. Burbank Titans
After six games on the road, Kennedy is heading back home. The Kennedy Cougars and the Burbank Titans will face off at 7:30 p.m. on December 20th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard on Wednesday.
On Saturday, Kennedy strolled past Mira Loma with points to spare, taking the game 66-49. Given Kennedy's advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 230th, while Mira Loma is ranked 479th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Aharon Young, who scored 16 points. The match was his sixth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Dondre Prothro, who scored 12 points.
Burbank has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won three matchups by 22 points or more this season. They put the hurt on Fortune Early College with a sharp 67-45 victory on Wednesday. With Burbank ahead 45-19 at the half, the match was all but over already.
The match pitted two dominant players against one another in Michael Butcher and Jabari Pugh. Butcher had a great game and scored 13 points along with eight rebounds. Meanwhile, Pugh was balling out in the loss, scoring 18 points.
Kennedy's victory bumped their record up to 9-4. As for Burbank, they have been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a nice bump to their 7-3 record this season.
Wednesday's matchup is shaping up to be a scrappy game: Kennedy have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 32.7 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Burbank struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 32.8 rebounds per game. Given Kennedy's sizeable advantage in that area, Burbank will need to find a way to close that gap.
Kennedy barely slipped by Burbank in their previous meeting back in January, winning 77-76. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Burbank's Brandon Haley , who dropped a double-double on 25 points and 13 assists. Now that he won't be playing on Wednesday, will it be that much easier for Kennedy to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
