The Grand Island Central Catholic Crusaders will square off against the Seward Bluejays at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Grand Island Central Catholic has five straight wins, Seward has seven straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.
Last Thursday, Grand Island Central Catholic really took it to Ord for the full four quarters, racking up a 72-44 victory. Given the Crusaders' advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 32nd, while the Chanticleers are ranked 147th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Grand Island Central Catholic relied on the efforts of Thomas Birch, who went 7 for 13 on his way to 17 points and three steals, and Thomas Liban, who went 5 of 11 on his way to 13 points and four steals. Birch continues to improve, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Kyle Kelly, who posted nine points and five rebounds.
Grand Island Central Catholic was working as a unit and finished the game with 15 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Ord only racked up six assists.
Meanwhile, Seward played a tough contest on Friday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They were dealt a 91-48 defeat at the hands of Norris. The Bluejays were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 56-26.
Grand Island Central Catholic pushed their record up to 7-2 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.5 points per game. As for Seward, their loss dropped their record down to 2-7.
Grand Island Central Catholic took a serious blow against Seward when the teams last played back in December of 2023, falling 60-31. Can Grand Island Central Catholic avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
