Two dominant forwards in Jenna Donohoo and Madalynn Shirley are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Tecumseh Braves will head out on the road to face off against the Evansville Central Bears at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Tecumseh sitting on three straight wins and Evansville Central on five.
Last Thursday, Tecumseh earned a 54-43 win over Perry Central. Given Tecumseh's advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 91st, while Perry Central is ranked 291st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Donohoo was her usual excellent self, scoring 17 points. The matchup was her fifth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Natalie Feather, who scored eight points.
Evansville Central has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven matchups by 21 points or more this season. They were the clear victor by a 59-37 margin over Evansville Reitz. Winning is a bit easier when you work as a team to rack up 13 more assists than your opponent, as Evansville Central did.
Evansville Central found their leader in underclassman Shirley, who scored 23 points along with three blocks. That makes it six consecutive games in which Shirley has scored at least 25% of Evansville Central's points. Another player making a difference was Lindsey Laine, who scored six points along with five assists and five steals.
Tecumseh's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-2. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 58.0 points per game. As for Evansville Central, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight games, which provided a nice bump to their 10-2 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Tecumseh have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 19 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Evansville Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 29.8 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.
