Basketball Game Preview: Central City Bison vs. Lakeview Vikings

The Central City Bison will challenge the Lakeview Vikings at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The timing is sure in Central City's favor as the team sits on six straight wins at home while Lakeview has been banged up by five consecutive losses on the road.

On Friday, Central City needed a bit of extra time to put away Fullerton. They managed a 51-47 victory over the Warriors. The win continues a trend for the Bison in their matchups with the Warriors: they've now won five in a row.

Meanwhile, Lakeview came up short against Scotus on Saturday and fell 60-48. While losing is never fun, the Vikings can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 140th, while the Shamrocks are ranked 32nd).

Central City will have to keep a close watch on Blake Rathbone and Clayton Thomson, a pair of players who had a big impact on Lakeview's prior game. Rathbone posted six points in addition to five rebounds and three steals, while Thomson went 6-for-12 to rack up 14 points and six boards. Thomson continues to improve, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Logan Tomky, who had nine points.

Lakeview's defeat dropped their record down to 8-12. As for Central City, their victory bumped their record up to 15-7.

Central City beat Lakeview 45-32 when the teams last played back in February of 2024. Will Central City repeat their success, or does Lakeview have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.