Two dominant forwards in Dallas Hernandez and Elijah Greene are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The East Panthers will venture away from home to take on The Park School of Buffalo Pioneers at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (East has four straight victories, The Park School of Buffalo has four straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.
Last Friday, East beat Buffalo Academy for Visual & Performing Arts 53-46.
| 01/10/25 @ Buffalo Academy for Visual & Performing Arts | 5 |
| 01/08/25 @ Riverside | 2 |
| 01/03/25 @ Western New York Maritime Charter | 2 |
| 12/20/24 vs City Honors | 1 |
| 12/17/24 vs Buffalo Culinary Arts | 2 |
East's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Hernandez, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 15 boards. With that strong performance, Hernandez is now averaging an impressive 2.1 blocks per game. Antoine Williams was another key player, putting up 21 points in addition to six rebounds and four steals.
East smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 18 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 17 offensive rebounds in three consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, The Park School of Buffalo was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Thursday as they fell 72-68 to St. Mary's.
East will have to contain Greene as he made an impact in The Park School of Buffalo's last game. He went 12 for 17 on his way to 28 points along with six boards and five steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Kamron Barge, who went 6 of 12 en route to 18 points and six assists.
East's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 4-6. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 57.7 points per game. As for The Park School of Buffalo, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-7.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as East and The Park School of Buffalo are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. East hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 56.5 points per game. However, it's not like The Park School of Buffalo struggles in that department as they've been averaging 64.9 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
East took a serious blow against The Park School of Buffalo when the teams last played back in December of 2016, falling 72-39. Thankfully for East, Daniel Scott (who posted 26 points) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
