Basketball Game Preview: Central Knights vs. Classical Purple

Central is 0-10 against Classical since January of 2017 but things could change on Thursday. The Central Knights will venture away from home to take on the Classical Purple at 6:00 p.m. One thing working in Central's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points every time they've taken the court this season.

Central is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Rhode Island's top teams: La Salle Academy, who was ranked first at the time (Central was ranked sixth). Central took an 85-78 hit to the loss column at the hands of La Salle Academy on Tuesday.

Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from John Ramos, who posted 22 points. His evening made it four games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Lester Rodriguez, who had 19 points.

Meanwhile, you're bound to get a positive result if you outscore your opponent every quarter, and that's exactly how it played out for Classical on Tuesday. They blew past Tolman 78-53. The Purple have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven contests by 20 points or more this season.

Central better focus on containing Eliezer Delbrey and Abdul Evans as the pair were huge in Classical's win. Delbrey scored 30 points, while Evans earned 17 points. Delbrey is trending in the right direction considering he's improved his point production for three straight games. Another player making a difference was Mohammed Fadia, who put up nine points.

Classical is on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last 11 games, which provided a nice bump to their 11-5 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 64.7 points per game. As for Central, their loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 11-5.

Central lost to Classical on the road by a decisive 92-74 margin in their previous meeting back in January of 2024. Can Central avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.