Preview: South Bend Washington Panthers vs. Mishawaka Marian Knights
South Bend Washington has been on the road for five straight, but on Friday they'll finally head home. They will take on the Mishawaka Marian Knights at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
South Bend Washington pushed their score all the way to 57 on Saturday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a 66-57 hit to the loss column at the hands of Valparaiso. While losing is never fun, South Bend Washington can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 151st, while Valparaiso is ranked 32nd).
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Steven Reynolds 3, who scored 21 points along with eight rebounds and five steals. He has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last five times he's played. Donovan Johnson was another key contributor, scoring 14 points along with two steals and two blocks.
Meanwhile, Mishawaka Marian had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 22.5 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Penn and snuck past 31-28. Despite the victory, that was the fewest points Mishawaka Marian has scored all year.
Mishawaka Marian had a senior duo take command as Jackson Horvath scored ten points and Zion Rhoades scored six points along with 11 rebounds.
South Bend Washington has not been sharp recently, as they've lost five of their last six matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 8-6 record this season. As for Mishawaka Marian, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 7-8 record this season.
South Bend Washington came out on top in a nail-biter against Mishawaka Marian in their previous meeting back in March of 2023, sneaking past 43-41. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Mishawaka Marian's Deaglan Sullivan, who scored 21 points. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be that much easier for South Bend Washington to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
