The Aurora Central Trojans will head out on the road to take on the Gateway Olympians at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Aurora Central is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 50.6 points per game this season.
Aurora Central took a loss when they played away from home on Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Tuesday. They walked away with a 46-38 win over Skyview. The score was all tied up 21-21 at the break, but the Trojans were the better team in the second half.
It was another big night for Alejandro (Alex) Flores, who went 7 for 17 on his way to 19 points. That makes it six consecutive games in which he has scored at least a third of Aurora Central's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Gabou (Ben) Camara, who posted six points in addition to ten boards and four blocks.
Meanwhile, while it was all tied up 24-24 at halftime, Gateway was not quite Bear Creek's equal in the second half on Saturday. They came up short against the Bears, falling 63-42. The Olympians have struggled against the Bears recently, as the game was their seventh consecutive lost matchup.
Aurora Central will have to contain Bryan Lozano as he made an impact in Gateway's last game. He went 5 for 10 on his way to 14 points and five steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Angel Couto, who put up four points.
Even though they lost, Gateway smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in three consecutive contests.
Aurora Central's victory bumped their record up to 5-7. As for Gateway, their loss dropped their record down to 2-8.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Aurora Central has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 31.8 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Gateway struggles in that department as they've been averaging 25.1 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Aurora Central came up short against Gateway when the teams last played back in January of 2024, falling 72-64. Can Aurora Central avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
