Basketball Recap: Xander Niehaus' Big Game Can't Quite Lead Castle over Evansville Central

Castle was the 91-70 winner over Evansville Central when they last played one another back in January of 2024, but their luck changed this time around. The Castle Knights fell just short of the Evansville Central Bears by a score of 63-61 on Tuesday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest defeat the Knights have suffered since February 9, 2024.

Castle lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Xander Niehaus, who went 6 of 10 on his way to 16 points and seven rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Jakob Wongler, who posted eight points along with five assists and four steals.

Evansville Central got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Zaryen Moore out in front who went 7 of 10 en route to 14 points along with eight steals and six boards. Those eight steals gave Moore a new career-high. Kenyon Peoples was another key player, as he made all 5 shots he took to post 14 points.

Castle's loss dropped their record down to 4-7. As for Evansville Central, the win (which was their fourth in a row) raised their record to 8-2.

Castle will take on Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter in a tournament on Friday. Castle knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past eight games -- so hopefully Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter likes a good challenge. As for Evansville Central, they will face off against Springfield Southeast at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday.