Cranston East and Central are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2017, but not for long. The Cranston East Thunderbolts will square off against the Central Knights at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
Cranston East is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Rhode Island's top teams: Cranston West, who was ranked 17th at the time (Cranston East was ranked 15th). Cranston East fell 52-44 to Cranston West on Saturday. The match marked the Thunderbolts' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.
Meanwhile, Central put another one in the bag on Saturday to keep their perfect season alive. They breezed by Shea to the tune of 82-54. While the Knights didn't have the best season last year (they finished 7-16), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.
Cranston East better keep an eye on Lester Rodriguez. He was instrumental in Central's win, putting up 24 points. Rodriguez's afternoon made it three games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. Another player making a difference was John Ramos, who posted 17 points.
Central pushed their record up to 5-0 with the win, which was their third straight at home. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 85.0 points per game. As for Cranston East, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-2.
Cranston East came up short against Central in their previous meeting back in February, falling 71-59. Can Cranston East avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
