Basketball Game Preview: Derby Panthers vs. Eisenhower Tigers

Two dominant guards in Avant Riley and Pierce Blue are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. A feisty cat fight is on tap when the Derby Panthers duke it out with the Eisenhower Tigers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday... One thing working in Derby's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points every time they've taken the court this season.

Eisenhower better have a healthy lead at halftime, because if last week is any indication, that's when Derby really get things going. Derby put the hurt on Valley Center with a sharp 66-45 victory on Tuesday. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas basketball rankings (they are ranked third, while the Hornets are ranked 82nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Derby's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Cale Clingan, who went 8 of 13 en route to 20 points, and Jack Ulwelling, who posted 12 points. Cayden Titus was another key player, putting up seven points.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Eisenhower). They simply couldn't be stopped on Tuesday as they easily beat Arkansas City 70-27. The Tigers pushed the score to 64-19 by the end of the third, a deficit the Bulldogs cut but never quite recovered from.

Derby pushed their record up to 14-0 with the win, which was their seventh straight at home. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 67.9 points per game. As for Eisenhower, their victory bumped their record up to 4-9.

Derby didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Eisenhower when the teams last played back in December of 2021, but they still walked away with a 57-52 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Derby since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.