Two dominant guards in Ethan Bergantino and Jordan Massie are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Central Bears will be home for the holidays to greet the Land O' Lakes Gators at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. Central will stroll in with a 13 game home winning streak (dating back to last season), but they should still watch out: the last time they lost at home was their November 22 matchup with Land O' Lakes.
Central has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six matchups by 20 points or more this season. They put the hurt on Nature Coast Tech with a sharp 71-46 victory on Friday. Given Central's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 58th, while Nature Coast Tech is ranked 417th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Central's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Jeroen "JD" Watson led the charge by dropping a double-double on 23 points and ten rebounds. The match was Watson's sixth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of David Villarroel, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and ten rebounds.
Meanwhile, Land O' Lakes didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Zephyrhills on Friday, but they still walked away with a 48-44 victory. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Land O' Lakes.
Central's victory bumped their record up to 7-1. As for Land O' Lakes, their victory bumped their record up to 3-4.
Central and Land O' Lakes were neck-and-neck in their previous matchup back in November of 2022, but Central came up empty-handed after a 66-65 loss. Thankfully for Central, Kennen Ayala (who scored 19 points along with five rebounds and three 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.
