Central City is 0-10 against St. Paul since December of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. Having just played yesterday, the Central City Bison will get right back to it and host the St. Paul Wildcats at 6:00 p.m. on January 26th. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Central City has seven straight victories, St. Paul has six straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
On Thursday, Central City's game was all tied up 18-18 at the half, but luckily for them it didn't stay that way. They walked away with a 41-30 win over David City.
Central City's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Addie Buhlke, who scored 12 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jerzie Schindler, who scored nine points.
St. Paul suffered their biggest loss since December 16, 2023 on Tuesday. They were beaten by Centura 49-21.
Gracie Kelley put forth a good effort for the losing side as she scored 11 points along with eight rebounds. That was a full 52.4% of St. Paul's points, marking the third time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, St. Paul struggled to work together and finished the game with only three assists. They are winless (0-3) when they just don't pass the ball.
Central City is on a roll lately: they've won ten of their last 11 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 12-4 record this season. As for St. Paul, their loss was their ninth straight at home, which dropped their record down to 3-12.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Central City have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 20.9 rebounds per game. However, it's not like St. Paul struggles in that department as they've been averaging 26 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Central City lost to St. Paul at home by a decisive 49-34 margin in their previous matchup back in February of 2023. Thankfully for Central City, Clara Kunze (who scored 12 points along with nine rebounds and four steals) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
