Basketball Game Preview: Smiths Station Panthers vs. Central Red Devils

Smiths Station and Central are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2020, but not for long. The Smiths Station Panthers are taking a road trip to challenge the Central Red Devils at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Smiths Station has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the contest with three straight defeats, while Central will come in with three straight victories.

It was a proper cat-fight when Smiths Station took on Auburn on Tuesday. Smiths Station lost to Auburn on the road by a 64-46 margin. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Alabama basketball rankings (they are ranked 115th, while the Tigers are ranked 21st).

Opelika typically has all the answers at home, but on Tuesday Central proved too difficult a challenge. Everything went their way against the Bulldogs as they made off with a 75-49 win. The Red Devils have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight matches by 22 points or more this season.

Central pushed their record up to 19-4 with the victory, which was their tenth straight on the road dating back to last season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 79.6 points per game. As for Smiths Station, their loss dropped their record down to 10-9.

Smiths Station might still be hurting after the 75-51 defeat they got from Central in their previous matchup back in January of 2024. Can Smiths Station avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.