Basketball Game Preview: St. Xavier Bombers vs. Elder Panthers

The St. Xavier Bombers will head out on the road to face off against the Elder Panthers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (St. Xavier has seven straight wins, Elder has four straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

St. Xavier is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Ohio's top teams: Archbishop Moeller, who was ranked 24th at the time (St. Xavier was ranked sixth). St. Xavier was the clear victor by a 46-22 margin over Archbishop Moeller on Friday. The Bombers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six matches by 24 points or more this season.

Brayden Reilly

Blocked Shots

02/07/25 vs Archbishop Moeller	2
01/07/25 vs Beavercreek	1
12/20/24 vs Walton-Verona	1
11/30/24 vs Colonial	2

St. Xavier's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Brayden Reilly, who went 5 for 7 on his way to 13 points and five steals. What's more, Reilly also racked up two blocks, the most he's had since back in November of 2024. Another player making a difference was Jacob Wassler, who went 5 of 7 en route to 14 points.

Meanwhile, Elder ended up a good deal behind Olentangy Liberty on Saturday and lost 57-43.

St. Xavier's win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 17-3. The wins came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 28.5 points over those games. As for Elder, their loss dropped their record down to 12-7.

St. Xavier strolled past Elder in their previous matchup back in January by a score of 46-30. The rematch might be a little tougher for St. Xavier since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.