Basketball Game Preview: Benedictine Bengals vs. Bay Rockets

The Benedictine Bengals will head out to challenge the Bay Rockets at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Benedictine is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 57.9 points per game this season.

Last Friday, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Benedictine beat Geneva 48-43.

Damone Darmond

Rebounds (Career)

02/14/25 @ Geneva	15
01/30/24 @ Open Door Christian	14
01/24/24 @ John Hay	12
12/17/24 vs Lake Catholic	10
01/26/24 @ Trinity	10

Benedictine's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Damone Darmond, who posted eight points and 15 boards. Those 15 rebounds gave Darmond a new career-high. Tyree Williamson also deserves some recognition as he posted his first block of the season.

Benedictine smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 21 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive rebounds in three consecutive matchups.

Meanwhile, while it was all tied up 23-23 at halftime, Bay was not quite Lakewood's equal in the second half on Friday. They fell 66-55 to the Rangers. While losing is never fun, the Rockets can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 372nd, while the Rangers are ranked 125th).

Benedictine will need to focus on slowing down Ryan Miller, one of several Bay players who made an impact when they last played. He went 6-for-9 en route to 18 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Collin Melvin, who went 7-for-15 on his way to 17 points and seven boards.

Bay has been struggling recently as they've lost five of their last six games, which has put a noticeable dent in their 11-11 record this season. As for Benedictine, their win bumped their record up to 10-12.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Benedictine has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 31.3 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Bay struggles in that department as they've been averaging 26.3 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more basketball content.