Basketball Game Preview: Harrisburg Tigers vs. Jefferson Cavaliers

The Harrisburg Tigers will take on the Jefferson Cavaliers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Harrisburg has four straight wins, Jefferson has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Harrisburg is headed into the contest having just posted their closest victory since March 16, 2024 on Tuesday. They narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past Roosevelt 59-56. Given the Tigers' advantage in MaxPreps' South Dakota basketball rankings (they are ranked 14th, while the Rough Riders are ranked 66th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Jefferson didn't have quite enough to beat Yankton on Tuesday and fell 49-46. That's two games in a row now that the Cavaliers have lost by exactly three points.

Harrisburg pushed their record up to 8-2 with the victory, which was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 57.8 points per game. As for Jefferson, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-7-1.

Harrisburg strolled past Jefferson in their previous matchup back in January of 2024 by a score of 56-41. Will Harrisburg repeat their success, or does Jefferson have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.