Preview: Crown Point Panthers vs. Keene Central Beavers
Crown Point is 9-1 against Keene Central since February of 2018, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Tuesday. The Crown Point Panthers will look to defend their home court against the Keene Central Beavers at 6:30 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Crown Point had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 42 points), and they went ahead and made it four on Thursday. They claimed a resounding 68-39 victory over Lake Placid on the road. The game was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 42-18.
It was another big night for Trevor Harris, who dropped a double-double on 36 points and 15 rebounds. Harris is absolutely dominating the point category: he's posted at least 15 every time he's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Matt Beeman, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Meanwhile, winning is just a little bit easier when you nail seven more threes than your opponent, a fact Keene Central proved on Thursday. They were the clear victor by a 68-46 margin over Bolton Central. The win was nothing new for Keene Central as they're now sitting on four straight.
Keene Central relied on the efforts of Asa Sprague, who scored 18 points, and Vann Morrelli, who scored 18 points. Morrelli is on a roll when it comes to points, as he's now scored 15 or more in the last four games he's played. Another player making a difference was Peter Robjent, who scored 12 points.
Crown Point's win was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 7-2. As for Keene Central, their win bumped their record up to 5-3.
Keep an eye on the arc in Tuesday's contest: Crown Point have made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having only averaged 8.3 threes per game. It's a different story for Keene Central, though, as they've been averaging only 5.4 threes per game. Given Crown Point's sizeable advantage in that area, Keene Central will need to find a way to close that gap.
Crown Point was able to grind out a solid victory over Keene Central in their previous meeting back in December of 2023, winning 63-56. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Sprague, who scored 21 points. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Crown Point still be able to contain him? There's only one way to find out.
