Central Catholic is on a ten-game streak of home wins, while Manteca is on a five-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Central Catholic Raiders will take on the Manteca Buffaloes at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Friday, Central Catholic beat Kimball 64-53. Given Central Catholic's advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 183rd, while Kimball is ranked 571st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Tyler Wentworth was his usual excellent self, dropping a double-double on 27 points and 12 rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points he has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Jordan Magana, who scored 16 points along with four steals.
Meanwhile, Manteca was able to grind out a solid victory over East Union on Friday, taking the game 53-40.
Evani Gaeta continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, scoring 13 points. Elijah Nelson was another key contributor, scoring 14 points.
Central Catholic is on a roll lately: they've won 15 of their last 16 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 22-5 record this season. As for Manteca, their victory bumped their record up to 19-8.
Wednesday's matchup is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Central Catholic have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 42.7% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Manteca struggles in that department as they've made 40.7% of their threes this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Central Catholic skirted past Manteca 47-45 when the teams last played back in January. Does Central Catholic have another victory up their sleeve, or will Manteca turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
