Gaylord is 2-8 against Traverse City Central since February of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Gaylord Blue Devils will head out on the road to face off against the Traverse City Central Trojans at 7:00 p.m. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Last Tuesday, Gaylord was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 58-52 to Bay City Western.
Gaylord's loss came about despite a quality game from Luke Gelow, who dropped a double-double on 30 points and 12 rebounds. Gelow has been hot recently, having posted ten or more rebounds the last three times he's played. Another player making a difference was Aidan Locker, who scored 14 points.
Meanwhile, Traverse City Central's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their fifth straight defeat. They ended up on the wrong side of a rough 68-46 walloping at the hands of Petoskey. While losing is never fun, Traverse City Central can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Michigan basketball rankings (they are ranked 385th, while Petoskey is ranked 165th).
Gaylord's loss dropped their record down to 7-11. As for Traverse City Central, they have been struggling recently as they've lost eight of their last nine games, which put a noticeable dent in their 2-13 record this season.
Gaylord was able to grind out a solid victory over Traverse City Central in their previous matchup back in December of 2023, winning 64-53. The rematch might be a little tougher for Gaylord since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
