Preview: Centennial Golden Hawks vs. Garces Memorial Rams
The Centennial Golden Hawks will head out on the road to take on the Garces Memorial Rams at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Centennial's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last 14 games.
Even though Liberty scored an imposing 67 points on Wednesday, Centennial still came out on top. Centennial took down Liberty 81-67. Given Centennial's advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 119th, while Liberty is ranked 304th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Michael Gutierrez and Rippen Gill were among the main playmakers for Centennial as the former scored 18 points along with four steals and the latter scored 22 points along with seven rebounds and three steals. Gill hasn't dropped below two steals for six straight games. Donquavius Bolton was another key contributor, scoring 13 points along with two steals.
Meanwhile, Garces Memorial pushed their score all the way to 67 on Wednesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a 73-67 hit to the loss column at the hands of Bakersfield Christian. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Garces Memorial in their matchups with Bakersfield Christian: they've now lost six in a row.
Centennial pushed their record up to 15-5 with that victory, which was their fourth straight at home. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 77.3 points per game. As for Garces Memorial, their defeat dropped their record down to 12-9.
Centennial strolled past Garces Memorial when the teams last played back in February of 2023 by a score of 55-40. Does Centennial have another victory up their sleeve, or will Garces Memorial turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
