The Central Bearcats will head out on the road to square off against the Mattawan Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Central sitting on eight straight victories and Mattawan on three.
Even though Central has not done well against Lakeview recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. Central strolled past Lakeview with points to spare, taking the game 43-27. Given Central's advantage in MaxPreps' Michigan basketball rankings (they are ranked 138th, while Lakeview is ranked 463rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, Mattawan earned a 38-25 win over Portage Northern on Thursday.
Delaney Elsmore was her usual excellent self, scoring 18 points along with seven rebounds and four steals. That makes it six consecutive games in which she has scored at least a third of Mattawan's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Alyssa Hinkley, who scored three points along with six rebounds and three steals.
Central pushed their record up to 8-1 with that win, which was their seventh straight at home. As for Mattawan, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 5-4 record this season.
Central lost to Mattawan on the road by a decisive 54-35 margin in their previous matchup back in January of 2023. Can Central avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
