Preview: Evansville Central Bears vs. Tecumseh Braves
Two dominant forwards in Madalynn Shirley and Jenna Donohoo are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Evansville Central Bears will be home for the holidays to greet the Tecumseh Braves at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Evansville Central will be looking to keep their ten-game home win streak (dating back to last season) alive.
Evansville Central has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven contests by 21 points or more this season. They put the hurt on Evansville Reitz with a sharp 59-37 win on Wednesday. Winning is a bit easier when you work as a team to rack up 13 more assists than your opponent, as Evansville Central did.
Evansville Central found their leader in underclassman Shirley, who scored 23 points along with three blocks. That makes it six consecutive games in which Shirley has scored at least 25% of Evansville Central's points. Lindsey Laine was another key contributor, scoring six points along with five assists and five steals.
Tecumseh aren't just finding sucess at home, as their game last Thursday extended their overall winning streak to three. They walked away with a 54-43 victory over Perry Central. Given Tecumseh's advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 91st, while Perry Central is ranked 291st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Donohoo, who scored 17 points. The game was her fifth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Natalie Feather, who scored eight points.
Evansville Central is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 10-2 record this season. As for Tecumseh, their victory bumped their record up to 7-2.
Keep an eye on the arc in Saturday's contest: Evansville Central have made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having only averaged 4.8 threes per game. It's a different story for Tecumseh, though, as they've been averaging only 2.7 threes per game. Given Evansville Central's sizeable advantage in that area, Tecumseh will need to find a way to close that gap. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.
