Preview: Evansville Memorial Tigers vs. Evansville North Huskies
Evansville Memorial has enjoyed the comforts of home their last four games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will face off against the Evansville North Huskies at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Hopefully Evansville Memorial focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up nine on Tuesday.
In what's become a running theme this season, Evansville Memorial gave their fans yet another huge victory on Tuesday. They breezed by Mt. Vernon at home to the tune of 59-22. Given Evansville Memorial's advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 21st, while Mt. Vernon is ranked 328th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Evansville Memorial got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Avery Kelley out in front who scored 13 points along with two steals. Another player making a difference was Sophie Johnson, who scored ten points along with three steals.
Meanwhile, Evansville North's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Saturday after their third straight loss. They took a 51-37 bruising from Jasper. The result shouldn't come as a shock considering that's the fewest points Evansville North has scored all season.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the most dominant came from Brooke Silva, who scored ten points along with five assists and two steals. Maddy Knies was another key contributor, scoring nine points along with seven rebounds.
Evansville Memorial pushed their record up to 17-3 with that win, which was their 18th straight at home dating back to last season. They've been dominating during the matches in that stretch too, as they've won by an average of 23.72 points. As for Evansville North, their loss dropped their record down to 13-6.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Evansville Memorial have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 26.4 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Evansville North, though, as they've been averaging only 23.6 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Evansville Memorial strolled past Evansville North when the teams last played back in January of 2023 by a score of 48-34. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Evansville North's Amiyah Buchanan, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 15 rebounds. Now that she won't be playing on Thursday, will it be that much easier for Evansville Memorial to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
