Basketball Game Preview: Southport Cardinals vs. Decatur Central Hawks

The Southport Cardinals will head out to take on the Decatur Central Hawks at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Southport will be strutting in after a victory while Decatur Central will be coming in after a defeat.

Southport took a loss when they played away from home on Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Saturday. They came out on top against Franklin Community by a score of 54-47.

Meanwhile, Decatur Central lost to Plainfield at home by a 59-43 margin on Friday. While losing is never fun, the Hawks can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 182nd, while the Quakers are ranked 46th).

Southport will have to contain Elyas Zapata as he made an impact in Decatur Central's last game. He went 5 of 7 en route to 14 points. Another player making a difference was Makeil Baker, who posted eight points.

Decatur Central has been struggling recently as they've lost four of their last five games, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-11 record this season. As for Southport, their win bumped their record up to 9-7.

Southport beat Decatur Central 72-65 when the teams last played back in February of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for Southport since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.