Basketball Game Preview: Charlotte Catholic Cougars vs. Butler Bulldogs

Charlotte Catholic and Butler are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2016, but not for long. The Charlotte Catholic Cougars will be playing in front of their home fans against the Butler Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

It was a proper cat-fight when Charlotte Catholic faced off against Garinger on Tuesday. Charlotte Catholic breezed by Garinger to the tune of 78-25. The Cougars have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five contests by 20 points or more this season.

Charlotte Catholic's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Jack Siegel, who went 7 of 8 en route to 19 points and six rebounds, and Chris Eagan, who went 7 of 9 on his way to 16 points. With that strong performance, Siegel is now averaging an impressive 15.1 points per game. The team also got some help courtesy of King Rhodes, who posted nine points and seven rebounds.

Meanwhile, Butler unfortunately witnessed the end of their three-game winning streak on Tuesday. They fell just short of Rocky River by a score of 58-56. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as the Bulldogs came into the match with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 110th, while the Ravens are ranked 227th).

The victory made it two in a row for Charlotte Catholic and bumps their season record up to 12-3. As for Butler, their loss was their first in the conference, dropping their conference record down to 3-1 and their overall record down to 9-6.

Charlotte Catholic came up short against Butler in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, falling 58-46. Can Charlotte Catholic avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.