Basketball Preview: Centennial Broncos vs. Sandy Creek Cougars
Centennial is 9-1 against the Cougars since December of 2016, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Saturday. The Centennial Broncos will take on the Sandy Creek Cougars at 7:45 p.m. Centennial has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.
Last Thursday, Centennial earned a 57-49 win over the Panthers.
Alex Hirschfeld had an outrageously good game as he scored 21 points along with eight rebounds and five assists. As a matter of fact, that's the most points he has scored all season. Sam Ehlers was another key contributor, scoring 12 points.
Meanwhile, Sandy Creek waltzed into their game on Thursday with two straight wins but they left with three. They came out on top against Sutton by a score of 32-24. The score was all tied up 13-13 at the break, but Sandy Creek was the better team in the second half.
Sandy Creek found their leader in underclassman Oliver Oglesby, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 12 rebounds. Oglesby has been hot recently, having posted eight or more rebounds the last eight times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Ethan Shaw, who scored ten points along with two steals.
Centennial's win bumped their record up to 11-6. As for Sandy Creek, they are on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 14-4 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Centennial have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 24.5 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Sandy Creek struggles in that department as they've been averaging 25 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Centennial couldn't quite finish off the Cougars in their previous meeting back in December of 2023 and fell 37-34. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Oglesby, who scored ten points along with seven rebounds and six blocks. Now that Centennial knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
