Basketball Game Preview: Bedford North Lawrence Stars vs. Evansville Central Bears

The Bedford North Lawrence Stars will head out on the road to challenge the Evansville Central Bears at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Bedford North Lawrence has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the matchup with five straight losses, while Evansville Central will come in with five straight wins.

Bedford North Lawrence lost 59-37 to Borden on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Evansville Central faced Fishers in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Friday. Evansville Central walked away with a 65-54 victory over Fishers.

Bedford North Lawrence better keep an eye on Madalynn Shirley. She was instrumental in Evansville Central's win, dropping a double-double on 27 points and 11 boards. That makes it three consecutive games in which Shirley has scored at least a third of Evansville Central's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Olivya Hile, who went 5 of 10 on her way to 14 points and five rebounds.

Bedford North Lawrence's defeat dropped their record down to 4-10. As for Evansville Central, they pushed their record up to 11-3 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home.

Bedford North Lawrence was able to grind out a solid victory over Evansville Central in their previous meeting back in December of 2023, winning 51-39. The rematch might be a little tougher for Bedford North Lawrence since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.