Preview: Centennial Coyotes vs. Apollo Hawks
The Centennial Coyotes will look to defend their home court on Tuesday against the Apollo Hawks at 5:30 p.m. Centennial is coming into the contest on a three-game losing streak.
Centennial lost a heartbreaker when they last took the court, but unfortunately for them the defeat they were handed on on Thursday was a bit more commanding. They were the victim of a tough 47-23 defeat at the hands of Sunrise Mountain. While losing is never fun, Centennial can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 181st, while Sunrise Mountain is ranked 30th).
Centennial's loss came about despite a quality game from Akasha Prpich, who scored 15 points along with six rebounds and two steals. That was a full 65.2% of Centennial's points, marking the seventh time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Kaleia Young, who scored four points along with six rebounds and five blocks.
Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Apollo beat Ironwood 43-39 on Friday.
Centennial bumped their record down to 5-9 with that loss, which was their seventh straight on the road dating back to last season. That rough patch could be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 26.3 points per game. As for Apollo, their win bumped their record up to 5-9.
Centennial didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Apollo when the teams last played back in February of 2023, but they still walked away with a 39-34 victory. Does Centennial have another victory up their sleeve, or will Apollo turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
