After losing to Centennial the last time they met, Bakersfield decided to demonstrate that turnabout is fair play. The Bakersfield Drillers narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past the Centennial Golden Hawks 80-78. The score was all tied up 42-42 at the break, but the Drillers were the better team in the second half.
Bakersfield got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Keshawn Black out in front who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 12 boards. Damari Miller was another key player, going 7 for 11 en route to 18 points and four steals.
Drillers
| 01/14/25 @ Centennial | 80-78 |
| 01/10/25 vs Monache | 81-32 |
| 01/09/25 @ Highland | 81-44 |
| 01/07/25 vs Edison | 79-53 |
Bakersfield was working as a unit and finished the game with 21 assists. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now posted at least 21 assists in three consecutive contests.
Centennial lost on Tuesday despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Ryan Shaw, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 12 rebounds. Those 12 boards gave Shaw a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Rodrick Hodges, who went 7 of 12 on his way to 20 points and five assists.
Bakersfield has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a nice bump to their 14-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 72.8 points per game. As for Centennial, their loss dropped their record down to 12-6.
Bakersfield will look to defend their home court on Thursday against Bakersfield Christian at 6:30 p.m. Bakersfield Christian has been dominant on offense recently, having racked up an incredible 224 points over their last three games. As for Centennial, they will head out on the road to challenge Liberty at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Centennial is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 71.2 points per game this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
