Preview: Jensen Beach Falcons vs. Centennial Eagles
The Jensen Beach Falcons will head out on the road to face off against the Centennial Eagles at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Jensen Beach will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Florida Rankings (they are ranked 214th, while Centennial is ranked 49th).
Jensen Beach struggled with offensive rebounds on Wednesday (Sebastian River had seven more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Jensen Beach fell to Sebastian River 52-47. Jensen Beach has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Jensen Beach's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Lizzie Fitzwater, who scored 23 points along with four steals, and Danielle Bell who scored 11 points along with six rebounds and three steals. Those 23 points set a new season-high mark for her.
Meanwhile, Centennial had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 25.3 points), and they went ahead and made it five on Wednesday. They snuck past Vero Beach with a 44-39 victory.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Centennial to victory, but perhaps none more so than Jailyn Williams, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 13 rebounds. That makes it four consecutive games in which Williams has scored at least 25% of Centennial's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jakenzye McBride, who scored 11 points along with six rebounds.
Jensen Beach's loss dropped their record down to 4-4. As for Centennial, they pushed their record up to 5-1 with that victory, which was their fourth straight at home dating back to last season.
Friday's contest is shaping up to be a scrappy game: Jensen Beach have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 34.4 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Centennial, though, as they've been averaging only 31.3 rebounds per game. Given Jensen Beach's sizeable advantage in that area, Centennial will need to find a way to close that gap.
Jensen Beach couldn't quite finish off Centennial when the teams last played back in November of 2022 and fell 45-42. Can Jensen Beach avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
