Basketball Game Preview: Arlington Eagles vs. Raymond Central Mustangs

Arlington has gone 9-1 against Raymond Central recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Eagles will square off against the Mustangs at 7:30 p.m. Arlington knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past five matchups -- so hopefully Raymond Central likes a good challenge.

Arlington fought the good fight in their overtime game against Gross Catholic on Tuesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They took an 84-75 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Cougars. While losing is never fun, the Eagles can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 134th, while the Cougars are ranked 34th).

Oliver Ladehoff

Points

01/06/26 vs Gross Catholic	31
01/03/26 vs Wisner-Pilger	10
12/31/25 @ Malcolm	9
12/30/25 vs McCook	25
12/22/25 @ Aquinas	19
+ 5 more games

Arlington might have lost, but man, Oliver Ladehoff was a machine: he shot 65% from the field on his way to 31 points along with six assists and five rebounds. With that strong performance, Ladehoff is now averaging an impressive 16.1 points per game. Another player making a difference was Owen Ladehoff, who almost dropped a double-double with 13 points and nine assists.

Meanwhile, Raymond Central was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their ninth straight loss dating back to last season. They were beaten by North Bend Central 85-47. On the bright side, the 47- point effort marked the Mustangs' highest-scoring contest to date.

Arlington's defeat dropped their record down to 4-6. As for Raymond Central, their loss dropped their record down to 0-8.

Arlington was able to grind out a solid victory over Raymond Central in their previous meeting back in January of 2025, winning 63-50. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Eagles since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.