Palestine and Center are an even 4-4 against one another since December of 2015, but not for long. The Palestine Wildcats will square off against the Center Roughriders at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Palestine is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 54.5 points per game this season.
It was a proper cat-fight when Palestine took on Bullard on Tuesday. Palestine fell 65-55 to Bullard. It was the first time this season that the Wildcats let down their fans at home.
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Ashton Cook, who went 5 for 11 on his way to 14 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Thomas Edwards, who posted 11 points and eight boards.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Center). They took their contest on Tuesday with ease, bagging an 86-52 win over Rusk. Given the Roughriders' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 275th, while the Eagles are ranked 681st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Center's win came from a few key players Palestine will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Jimmarion (JA) Smith, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and ten rebounds. He has been hot, having posted eight or more boards the last seven times he's played. Another player making a difference was Travis (TJ) Belin Jr, who went 6 of 10 en route to 16 points along with seven rebounds and six assists.
Center was working as a unit and finished the game with 20 assists. That's the most assists they've posted since back in February of 2024.
Center has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a nice bump to their 12-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 64.7 points per game. As for Palestine, their defeat ended a seven-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 12-11.
Palestine came up short against Center when the teams last played back in February of 2022, falling 65-55. Can Palestine avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
