Raymond Central and Arlington are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2016, but not for long. The Raymond Central Mustangs will face off against the Arlington Eagles at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Raymond Central will bounce into Friday's matchup after beating North Bend Central, who they had gone 0-9 against in their nine prior meetings. Raymond Central managed a 50-46 victory over North Bend Central on Tuesday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Mustangs.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Raymond Central to victory, but perhaps none more so than Taylor Kopecky, who posted nine points. The team also got some help courtesy of Kenzie Teneyck, who put up nine points.
Meanwhile, Arlington had already won eight in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 14.5 points) and they went ahead and made it nine on Saturday. They took down the Gators 65-50. The Eagles' offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.
Arlington's win came from a few key players Raymond Central will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Emerson Timm, who went 7 of 10 on her way to 32 points in addition to seven assists and five boards. She is also on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last 15 games she's played dating back to last season. Another player making a difference was Macy Wolf, who almost dropped a double-double on 22 points and nine boards.
Arlington smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive boards in six consecutive contests.
Arlington pushed their record up to 9-1 with the win, which was their fourth straight on the road. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 51.3 points per game. As for Raymond Central, their victory bumped their record up to 8-2.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Raymond Central has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 28.7 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Arlington struggles in that department as they've been averaging 29.3 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Raymond Central lost to Arlington on the road by a decisive 55-40 margin in their previous meeting back in January of 2024. Can Raymond Central avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
