Basketball Game Preview: Roncalli Royals vs. Franklin Central Flashes

The Roncalli Royals will head out on the road to challenge the Franklin Central Flashes at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

On Tuesday, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Roncalli beat Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory 51-47. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Royals.

Meanwhile, Franklin Central had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 30.5 points) and they went ahead and made it three last Saturday. They wrapped up 2024 with a 62-45 victory over the Bull Dogs.

Roncalli better focus on containing Lily Graves and Payton Duvall as the pair were huge in Franklin Central's win. Graves went 8 for 15 on her way to 24 points, while Duvall almost dropped a double-double on 17 points and nine rebounds. The dominant performance also gave Duvall a new career-high in steals (six). Ashlee Baker was another key player, putting up nine points and four steals.

Franklin Central was working as a unit and finished the game with 19 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Columbus North only racked up eight assists.

Franklin Central is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 12-6 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 61.8 points per game. As for Roncalli, their win ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 9-7.

Roncalli came up short against Franklin Central when the teams last played back in January of 2024, falling 57-52. Can Roncalli avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.