Basketball Game Preview: Ensworth Tigers vs. Knoxville Catholic Fighting Irish

The Ensworth Tigers will head out on the road to challenge the Knoxville Catholic Fighting Irish on Wednesday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Ensworth is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Tennessee's top teams: Pope John Paul II, who was ranked third at the time (Ensworth was ranked 18th). Ensworth fell 72-64 to Pope John Paul II on Friday. The Tigers have struggled against the Knights recently, as the game was their sixth consecutive lost matchup.

Meanwhile, Knoxville Catholic beat McCallie 66-55 on Friday. The victory continues a trend for the Fighting Irish in their matchups with the Blue Tornado: they've now won four in a row.

Knoxville Catholic's win came from a few key players Ensworth will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Tj Tipton, who dropped a double-double with 15 points and 14 boards. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Cade Murphy, who dropped a double-double with 19 points and 11 boards.

Ensworth's loss dropped their record down to 18-10. As for Knoxville Catholic, their win bumped their record up to 21-8.

Ensworth came up short against Knoxville Catholic in their previous meeting back in February of 2020, falling 66-58. Can Ensworth avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.