Basketball Game Preview: Central Catholic Buttons vs. O'Connor Panthers

The Central Catholic Buttons will take on the O'Connor Panthers in a holiday battle at at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this match.

Last Tuesday, Central Catholic ended up a good deal behind Madison and lost 61-47. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as the Buttons came into the contest with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 137th, while the Mavericks are ranked 663rd).

Meanwhile, O'Connor was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their fourth straight loss. They took a blow against Brennan, falling 72-43.

Central Catholic will have to contain Hagen Hurst as he made an impact in O'Connor's last game. He went 5 for 6 on his way to 14 points and five rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Jackson Schulze, who posted nine points.

O'Connor's defeat dropped their record down to 8-10. As for Central Catholic, their loss ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 15-4.

Central Catholic and O'Connor were neck-and-neck when the teams last played back in November of 2015, but Central Catholic came up empty-handed after a 64-63 defeat. Thankfully for Central Catholic, Pj Medrano (who went 9 of 17 on his way to 20 points and four blocks) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.