Preview: Central Spartans vs. Imperial Tigers
After three games on the road, Central is heading back home. They will take on the Imperial Tigers at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. One thing working in Central's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last seven games.
Last Friday, Central earned a 60-51 win over Calexico.
Central's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Jared Martin led the charge by scoring 21 points along with six rebounds. Martin hasn't dropped below 15points for ten straight games. Another player making a difference was David Lopez, who scored 17 points.
Meanwhile, Imperial beat Vincent Memorial 60-52 on Friday. The victory was all the more spectacular given Imperial's disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 825th, while Vincent Memorial is ranked 409th).
It was another big night for David Scariano, who dropped a double-double on 28 points and 18 rebounds. That makes it five consecutive games in which he has scored at least a third of Imperial's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Marc Vitela, who scored ten points along with five rebounds and two steals.
Central's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 10-10. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.3 points per game. As for Imperial, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 7-14 record this season.
Central strolled past Imperial when the teams last played back in May of 2021 by a score of 62-43. Does Central have another victory up their sleeve, or will Imperial turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
