Basketball Game Preview: Central Raiders vs. Oxford Wildcats

The Central Raiders will square off against the Oxford Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.

Central will head out to face Oxford after giving up their first home loss of the season on Tuesday. Central fell 38-31 to Argonia. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as Central came into the match with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 141st, while Argonia is ranked 326th).

Meanwhile, Oxford had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 26.8 points) and they went ahead and made it five on Thursday. They blew past the Bluejays 76-31. The Wildcats have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six contests by 24 points or more this season.

Oxford pushed their record up to 16-3 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 77.7 points over those games. As for Central, their loss dropped their record down to 14-2-1.

Central didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Oxford in their previous meeting back in December of 2024, but they still walked away with a 46-40 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Central since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.