The Centennial Golden Hawks will take on the Bakersfield Drillers at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Last Thursday, everything came up roses for Centennial against Garces Memorial as the team secured an 84-56 win. Given the Golden Hawks' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 203rd, while the Rams are ranked 763rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
| 01/09/25 vs Garces Memorial | 22 |
| 01/07/25 vs Sanger | 16 |
| 01/03/25 vs Independence | 16 |
| 12/30/24 vs Edison | 26 |
| 12/28/24 vs Corcoran | 28 |
Centennial's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Michael Gutierrez, who went 7 for 14 on his way to 22 points. Gutierrez's evening made it eight games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Derek Jimenez, who went 7 of 10 on his way to 17 points.
Centennial smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive boards in seven consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Bakersfield won against Highland on Thursday with 81 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Friday. Bakersfield breezed by Monache to the tune of 81-32. The victory was familiar territory for the Drillers who have now won three matches in a row.
Centennial better focus on containing Keshawn Black and Kade Johnson as the pair were huge in Bakersfield's win. Black dropped a double-double on 26 points and 19 boards, while Johnson went 10 of 16 on his way to 21 points in addition to six boards and six steals. That's the most steals Johnson has posted since back in November of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Rashaan Shehee, who posted two points along with 15 assists and seven steals.
Centennial has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 12-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 80.7 points per game. As for Bakersfield, their win bumped their record up to 13-6.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as Centennial and Bakersfield are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Centennial hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 70.8 points per game. However, it's not like Bakersfield struggles in that department as they've been averaging 67.2 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Everything came up roses for Centennial against Bakersfield in their previous matchup back in December of 2023, as the squad secured an 88-29 victory. Does Centennial have another victory up their sleeve, or will Bakersfield turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
