Las Cruces vs Centennial Preview!

<p>The Las Cruces Bulldawgs will host the Centennial Hawks Tuesday, February 15th at 7:00pm. This is the second matchup between these two District rivals in 5A-District 3. </p> <p>The Las Cruces Bulldawgs come into this game ranked #2 in the 5A rankings according to MaxPreps. They are 24-0 this season and are 10-0 in District play. They are coming off two straight 5A State Championship game appearances and winning the 2020 5A Championship. The Centennial Hawks are coming into this game ranked #17 in the 5A rankings according to MaxPreps. They are 12-12 this season and hold a 6-4 record in District play. </p> <p>The first matchup between Las Cruces and Centennial this season took place Friday, January 21st at Centennial High School. Las Cruces defeated Centennial 87-51 on the road. Las Cruces was led by Star duo, William Benjamin Jr. and [player_tooltip player_id="1076667" first="Isaiah" last="Carr"]. William Benjamin Jr. scored a game high 32 points and [player_tooltip player_id="1076667" first="Isaiah" last="Carr"] 19 points in the Las Cruces victory. </p> <p>The Centennial Hawks are led by Head Coach Johnathan Martinez who is in his 3rd season with the team. The Las Cruces Bulldawgs are led by Head Coach William Benjamin who is a 3x state champion in his 12th season with the team. </p> <p>Las Cruces is on a 24-game winning streak and is one of two teams in New Mexico still undefeated this season. In their last game, Las Cruces defeated Alamogordo 61-33 last Friday, February 11th. Centennial is coming off a win last Friday February 11th. They defeated Organ Mountain 70-57. </p> <p>The leading scorers for Las Cruces this season are William Benjamin Jr., [player_tooltip player_id="1076667" first="Isaiah" last="Carr"], [player_tooltip player_id="1076681" first="Kaden" last="Self"] and [player_tooltip player_id="1276347" first="David" last="Cruz"]. William Benjamin Jr. is averaging 26.5 points per game this season which ranks 2nd in New Mexico this year. [player_tooltip player_id="1076667" first="Isaiah" last="Carr"] is averaging a double-double with 18.5 points per game and 10.5 rebounds per game. [player_tooltip player_id="1076681" first="Kaden" last="Self"] is averaging 10.4 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game. [player_tooltip player_id="1276347" first="David" last="Cruz"] is averaging 8 points per game. David has made 46 three-pointers this season which is tied for the 8th most in New Mexico and shoots a solid 41% from three-point range. </p> <p>The leading scorers for Centennial this season are [player_tooltip player_id="1202922" first="Jeven" last="Beltran"], Nicolas Serna and Dax Rios. [player_tooltip player_id="1202922" first="Jeven" last="Beltran"] leads the Hawks in scoring averaging 17.4 points per game which is inside the top 20 in New Mexico. Nicolas Serna is the team’s second leading scorer this season averaging 9.5 points per game. Dax Rios is the team’s third leading scorer this year averaging 8.2 points per game. </p> <p>This district matchup is important for both schools and has state tournament implications for both sides. Las Cruces is trying to stay undefeated and secure the #1 seed for the state tournament. Centennial is trying to secure a spot in the top 16 for the state tournament. </p>