Basketball Game Preview: East Panthers vs. City Honors Centaurs

East is 3-0 against City Honors since January of 2020 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. After both having extra time off, the two teams will dust off their jerseys to face off against one another at 6:00 p.m. East is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 55.2 points per game this season.

East is probably headed into the match with a chip on their shoulder considering The Park School of Buffalo just ended the team's four-game winning streak last Saturday. They were outmatched by the Pioneers and fell 69-42. The Panthers were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 33-11.

East's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Dallas Hernandez, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and ten rebounds, and Antoine Williams, who posted 17 points. The game was Williams' fourth in a row with at least ten points. Justin Nichols also deserves some recognition as he posted his first block of the season.

Even though they lost, East smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive boards in four consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, City Honors was not able to break out of their rough patch last Saturday as the team picked up their third straight defeat. They fell 39-26 to East Aurora.

City Honors' loss dropped their record down to 1-6. As for East, their defeat ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 4-7.

East was able to grind out a solid win over City Honors in their previous matchup back in December of 2024, winning 60-51. The rematch might be a little tougher for East since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.