Central Academy is 0-10 against Forest Hills since February of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Central Academy Cougars will head out on the road to face off against the Forest Hills Yellow Jackets at 7:30 p.m. Central Academy is no doubt hoping to put an end to a 15-game streak of away losses dating back to last season.
Last Tuesday, Central Academy had to suffer through a rough 76-25 loss at the hands of Piedmont. While losing is never fun, Central Academy can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 633rd, while Piedmont is ranked 240th).
Central Academy's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Michael Hoff, who scored 12 points along with two steals, and Emmett Lashbrook who scored five points. That was a full 48% of Central Academy's points, marking the fifth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points.
Central Academy struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only four offensive rebounds. They are winless (0-6) when they can't control their own glass like that.
Even though Forest Hills has not done well against West Stanly recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. Forest Hills escaped with a win against West Stanly by the margin of a single free throw, 59-58. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
Forest Hills can attribute much of their success to Joshua Rivera, who scored 13 points along with seven rebounds, and Amari Melton, who scored 18 points along with five rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Joshua Huntley, who scored eight points.
Central Academy has not been sharp recently as the team's lost 12 of their last 13 matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-18 record this season. As for Forest Hills, the victory got them back to even at 10-10.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Central Academy have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 26.1 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Forest Hills struggles in that department as they've been averaging 32.2 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Central Academy came up short against Forest Hills in their previous matchup back in January, falling 60-53. Can Central Academy avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
