Basketball Game Preview: Cleveland Central Catholic Ironmen vs. Padua Franciscan Bruins

Cleveland Central Catholic has won five straight games at home, while Padua Franciscan has won five straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Saturday. The Cleveland Central Catholic Ironmen will take on the Padua Franciscan Bruins in a tournament on Saturday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Cleveland Central Catholic is headed into the game having just suffered their closest loss since February 17, 2024 on Saturday. They fell just short of Warrensville Heights by a score of 57-55. While losing is never fun, the Ironmen can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 126th, while the Tigers are ranked 32nd).

Meanwhile, Padua Franciscan was fully in charge on Friday, breezing past Lake Catholic 86-42. The Bruins have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won ten matches by 20 points or more this season.

Cleveland Central Catholic's defeat dropped their record down to 14-7. As for Padua Franciscan, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 16-6 record this season.