Basketball Game Preview: Evansville Reitz Panthers vs. Evansville Harrison Warriors

Two dominant guards in Jaylan Mitchell and Shane Sims are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Evansville Reitz Panthers will challenge the Evansville Harrison Warriors at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Evansville Reitz is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 67.6 points per game this season.

It was a proper cat-fight when Evansville Reitz challenged Evansville Memorial on Thursday. Evansville Reitz put the hurt on Evansville Memorial with a sharp 77-56 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Panthers.

Lavell Tinsley

Blocked Shots (Career)

02/06/25 vs Evansville Memorial	4
01/25/25 vs New Albany	2
02/01/25 vs Floyd Central	1
01/27/25 @ Henderson County	1
01/18/25 vs Paducah Tilghman	1

Evansville Reitz can attribute much of their success to Lavell Tinsley, who went 10 for 13 en route to 22 points along with eight boards and four blocks, and Jayce Swanson, who went 9 of 14 to rack up 21 points. The dominant performance gave Tinsley a new career-high in blocks. Another player making a difference was Mitchell, who almost dropped a double-double with nine points and 14 rebounds.

Evansville Reitz smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive boards in four consecutive matchups.

Meanwhile, Evansville Harrison beat Bloomington South 67-56 on Saturday.

Evansville Harrison's win came from a few key players Evansville Reitz will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Sims, who went 8 for 15 on his way to 23 points and eight assists. The team also got some help courtesy of Brooks Thomas, who dropped a double-double with 16 points and 14 boards.

Evansville Reitz's record now sits at 13-3. As for Evansville Harrison, their record is now 11-6.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Evansville Reitz has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 32.6 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Evansville Harrison struggles in that department as they've been averaging 27.8 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.

Evansville Reitz came out on top in a nail-biter against Evansville Harrison in their previous matchup back in February of 2024, sneaking past 53-51. The rematch might be a little tougher for Evansville Reitz since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.