Two dominant guards in Shekinah (Kai) Shaw and Rian Jones-Dillihunt are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Centennial Golden Hawks will be taking part in a tournament against the El Diamante Miners at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both will really light up the scoreboard.
Centennial is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They blew past Frontier, posting an 86-41 victory. Winning may never get old, but the Golden Hawks sure are getting used to it with their fifth in a row.
| 12/14/24 vs Frontier | 22 |
| 12/13/24 vs Paso Robles | 17 |
| 12/12/24 vs San Luis Obispo | 16 |
Centennial can attribute much of their success to Shaw, who dropped a double-double on 22 points and ten boards, and Ishani Reyes, who went 8 of 12 from beyond the arc on her way to 26 points. Shaw's afternoon made it three games in a row in which she has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Aubrey Baldoz, who posted six points and ten rebounds.
Centennial smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 24 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive rebounds in six consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for El Diamante, who bounced back after a loss on the road two weeks ago. They strolled past Hanford West with points to spare on Tuesday, taking the game 67-53. With that win, the Miners brought their scoring average up to 51.3 points per game.
Centennial better keep an eye on Jones-Dillihunt. She was instrumental in El Diamante's win, putting up 31 points. The dominant performance gave Jones-Dillihunt a new career-high in points. Mia Olson was another key player, posting 17 points.
El Diamante is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven contests, which provided a nice bump to their 7-4 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 61.1 points per game. As for Centennial, their victory bumped their record up to 6-4.
Centennial was able to grind out a solid win over El Diamante in their previous matchup back in November of 2023, winning 47-40. Does Centennial have another victory up their sleeve, or will El Diamante turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
