The Lima Central Catholic Thunderbirds and the Shawnee Indians will round out the year against one another at at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Last Saturday, Lima Central Catholic was able to grind out a solid victory over Van Wert, taking the game 57-49. Given the Thunderbirds' advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 61st, while the Cougars are ranked 386th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, Shawnee came tearing into Saturday's game with five straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 21 points) and they left with even more momentum. They walked away with a 69-57 win over the Hawks.
Lima Central Catholic better focus on containing Beckett Bertke and Trevick Bertke as the pair were huge in Shawnee's win. Beckett shot 5-for-7 from deep and dropped a double-double on 31 points and 11 rebounds, while Trevick dropped a double-double on 18 points and ten rebounds. Beckett's evening made it six games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Tate Bender, who posted ten points.
Lima Central Catholic pushed their record up to 4-2 with the victory, which was their eighth straight on the road dating back to last season. As for Shawnee, their record is now 7-1.
Lima Central Catholic came out on top in a nail-biter against Shawnee when the teams last played back in November, sneaking past 66-63. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Bertke, who went 7 of 14 on his way to 24 points in addition to seven boards and six assists. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Lima Central Catholic still be able to contain Bertke? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
