Basketball Game Preview: Evansville Reitz Panthers vs. Heritage Hills Patriots

Two dominant guards in Jaylan Mitchell and Jake Prior are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Evansville Reitz Panthers will face off against the Heritage Hills Patriots at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Evansville Reitz is currently enjoying a perfect season and no doubt wants to keep things rolling.

Evansville Reitz is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Indiana's top teams: Carmel, who was ranked tenth at the time (Evansville Reitz was ranked fourth). Evansville Reitz came out on top against Carmel by a score of 55-44 on Saturday. While the Panthers didn't have the best season last year (they finished 8-13), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.

Evansville Reitz's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Mitchell, who went 9 of 11 on his way to 23 points and eight rebounds. With that strong performance, Mitchell is now averaging an impressive 15.9 points per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Lavell Tinsley, who went 8 of 13 on his way to 17 points and seven rebounds.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Heritage Hills). They blew past Livingston Central, posting an 87-39 win. The team's explosion on offense also rewarded the Patriots with their most commanding win of the season.

Heritage Hills' win came from a few key players Evansville Reitz will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Prior, who went 9 of 19 on his way to 21 points. The contest was his third in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Tait Wetzel, who went 5 for 8 on his way to 12 points in addition to six boards and five assists.

Heritage Hills was working as a unit and finished the game with 28 assists. That's the most assists they've posted since back in January.

Evansville Reitz's record now sits at 7-0. As for Heritage Hills, their record is now 5-2.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Evansville Reitz has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 31 boards per game. However, it's not like Heritage Hills struggles in that department as they've been averaging 31.1 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.