Basketball Game Preview: South Bend Washington Panthers vs. Penn Kingsmen

The South Bend Washington Panthers will square off against the Penn Kingsmen at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with South Bend Washington sitting on 16 straight wins and Penn on eight.

Last Wednesday, South Bend Washington beat Varsity Opponent 71-61.

South Bend Washington's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Kira Reynolds led the charge by dropping a double-double on 19 points and ten boards. Reynolds is also on a roll when it comes to blocks, as she's now posted three or more in the last 29 games she's played dating back to last season. Monique Mitchell was another key player, going 7 of 14 on her way to 19 points in addition to eight rebounds and five assists.

Meanwhile, Penn won against NorthWood on Wednesday with 34 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Thursday. Penn managed a 34-29 victory over NorthWood. That's two games straight that the Kingsmen have won by exactly five points.

South Bend Washington better keep an eye on Jessa Troy. She was instrumental in Penn's win, putting up ten points and five steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Ava Stebbins, who posted six points.

Penn is on a roll lately: they've won 14 of their last 15 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 20-5 record this season. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 26.8 points per game. As for South Bend Washington, they pushed their record up to 21-1 with the win, which was their 13th straight at home dating back to last season.

Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as South Bend Washington and Penn are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. South Bend Washington hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 71 points per game. However, it's not like Penn struggles in that department as they've been averaging 55.4 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.

South Bend Washington came out on top in a nail-biter against Penn in their previous matchup back in December of 2024, sneaking past 52-50. Will South Bend Washington repeat their success, or does Penn have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.