Basketball Recap: Willie Dye III's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Central over Royal Palm Beach

Central has been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. They lost 90-65 to the Royal Palm Beach Wildcats on Friday.

Willie Dye III

Points (Career)

01/31/25 @ Royal Palm Beach	18
12/17/24 vs Coral Reef	17
01/28/25 @ Braddock	15
01/09/25 vs Dr. Krop	14
01/23/24 vs Miami Springs	14

Several Rockets players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Willie Dye III, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and ten rebounds. Those 18 points gave Dye III a new career-high. Keri Foster was another key player, going 6 for 11 to rack up 15 points in addition to eight boards and seven assists.

Even though they lost, Central smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in four consecutive games.

Royal Palm Beach got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Pheinyx Jenkins out in front who went 8 of 12 on his way to 22 points and six assists. Jenkins continues to improve, besting his previous point total in each of the last four games he's played. Daniel Melo also deserves some recognition as he grabbed his first steal of the season.

Central's defeat dropped their record down to 15-7. As for Royal Palm Beach, the win (which was their sixth in a row) raised their record to 14-8.

Central has already played their next contest, an 86-74 victory against Mater Lakes Academy on the 5th. As for Royal Palm Beach, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next match, a 65-36 win against West Boca Raton on the 3rd.