The East Central Trojans will square off against the Greenfield-Central Cougars at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Last Tuesday, East Central ended up a good deal behind Ryle and lost 64-48. While losing is never fun, the Trojans can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 213th in Indiana, while the Raiders are ranked 51st in Kentucky).
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Joel Richter, who went 6-for-10 en route to 17 points and five rebounds. Thanks to that strong game, he now owns an excellent 45.7% shooting accuracy. Cole Reynolds was another key player, putting up 11 points.
Meanwhile, Greenfield-Central entered their game against Lawrence Central on Friday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. Greenfield-Central took a 79-70 hit to the loss column at the hands of Lawrence Central. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game last Tuesday (64), the Cougars still had to take the loss.
Loss or not, Greenfield-Central got some senior leadership from Braylon Mullins and Boston Willard. Mullins went 10-for-21 on his way to 28 points and six boards, while Willard dropped a double-double with 12 points and 11 assists. That was a full 40% of Greenfield-Central's points, marking the third time in a row Mullins has posted more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Michael Johnson, who put up 11 points and six rebounds.
Greenfield-Central's defeat dropped their record down to 18-3. As for East Central, they have been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four matches, which has put a noticeable dent in their 7-12 record this season.
Friday's contest is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: East Central has been dynamite from deep this season, having made 37.8% of their three-pointers per game. However, it's not like Greenfield-Central struggles in that department as they've drained 45.5% of their three-pointers this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
East Central beat Greenfield-Central 54-45 in their previous meeting back in January of 2015. Will East Central repeat their success, or does Greenfield-Central have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
