The Central Spartans waltzed into their matchup on Tuesday with three straight wins but they left with four. They escaped with a win against Imperial by the margin of a single free throw, 67-66. Having run the score up that high, both teams probably have some extra defensive drills coming up.
Jared Martin was his usual excellent self, scoring 26 points. He has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last 11 times he's played. Kaleb Flores was another key contributor, scoring 15 points.
Several Tigers players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was David Scariano, who scored 19 points along with nine rebounds and two steals. Scariano hasn't dropped below 15points for six straight games. Another player making a difference was Jared Nixon, who dropped a double-double on 20 points and 17 rebounds.
Central is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last eight matches, which provided a massive bump to their 11-10 record this season. As for Imperial, their loss dropped their record down to 7-15.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Central will take on Vincent Memorial at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. As for Imperial, they will look to defend their home court on Saturday against Tri-City Christian at 5:30 p.m.
