Preview: Centura Centurions vs. Grand Island Central Catholic Crusaders
The Centura Centurions will look to defend their home court on Thursday against the Grand Island Central Catholic Crusaders at 7:45 p.m. Each of these teams will be battling to keep a four-game winning streak alive.
Centura scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Tuesday. They claimed a resounding 64-34 win over Central Valley at home. That looming 64-34 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for Centura yet this season.
Kailey Coghlan and Kennedy Davis were among the main playmakers for Centura as the former scored 15 points and the latter scored 12 points along with eight rebounds and three blocks. That's the first time this season that Coghlan scored 15 or more points. Another player making a difference was Hope Mcdonald, who scored five points along with five assists and four steals.
Meanwhile, winning is just a little bit easier when your three-point shooting is a whole 21% better than the opposition, a fact Grand Island Central Catholic proved on Saturday. They walked away with a 39-27 win over Duchesne. Given Grand Island Central Catholic's advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked seventh, while Duchesne is ranked 151st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Grand Island Central Catholic's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Maggie Herbek led the charge by scoring 12 points along with six rebounds. Those six rebounds set a new season-high mark for Herbek. The team also got some help courtesy of Bryndal Moody, who scored 15 points along with eight rebounds.
Centura's victory bumped their record up to 4-1. As for Grand Island Central Catholic, their win was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 4-0.
Centura skirted past Grand Island Central Catholic 38-35 in their previous meeting back in December of 2022. Will Centura repeat their success, or does Grand Island Central Catholic have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
