The Peru Tigers will head out on the road to square off against the Lafayette Central Catholic Knights at 7:45 p.m. on Friday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Peru has struggled recently with three defeats in a row, while Lafayette Central Catholic will arrive with six straight victories.
Peru pushed their score all the way to 68 on Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. Their tough 88-68 defeat to Maconaquah might stick with them for a while. While losing is never fun, Peru can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 226th, while Maconaquah is ranked 110th).
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Alex Ross, who scored 23 points along with seven rebounds and six assists. As a matter of fact, that's the most points he has scored all season. Matthew Roettger was another key contributor, scoring 20 points along with seven rebounds and three steals.
Meanwhile, Lafayette Central Catholic scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Friday. They enjoyed a cozy 66-49 victory over Benton Central.
Lafayette Central Catholic's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Ray Clayton led the charge by scoring 18 points along with five rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Mikey Stapleton, who scored 17 points along with seven rebounds.
Peru has traveled a rocky road recently, as they've lost four of their last five matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 7-6 record this season. As for Lafayette Central Catholic, they pushed their record up to 8-2 with that victory, which was their fourth straight on the road.
Keep an eye on the arc in Friday's game: Peru have made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having only averaged 6.4 threes per game. It's a different story for Lafayette Central Catholic, though, as they've been averaging only 5.5 threes per game. Given Peru's sizeable advantage in that area, Lafayette Central Catholic will need to find a way to close that gap. Come back here after the game to get analysis of the match and other basketball content.
