The Corydon Central Panthers will take on the Evansville Central Bears at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. Each of these teams will be battling to keep a four-game winning streak alive.
Corydon Central is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Saturday. They strolled past Silver Creek with points to spare, taking the game 52-38.
Corydon Central's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Alyssa Murphy, who posted 12 points along with eight boards and three steals. Josie Vaughn was another key player, putting up 12 points.
Corydon Central smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in four consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Evansville Central hadn't done well against Evansville Memorial recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Saturday. Evansville Central came out on top against Evansville Memorial by a score of 56-49. Given the Bears' advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 21st, while the Tigers are ranked 150th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Evansville Central's win came from a few key players Corydon Central will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Madalynn Shirley, who dropped a double-double with 20 points and ten rebounds. Her evening made it 16 games in a row in which she has scored at least 15 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Olivya Hile, who went 7 of 8 on her way to 18 points and six boards.
Evansville Central's win bumped their record up to 22-4. As for Corydon Central, their victory bumped their record up to 20-5.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the two teams are some of the highest-scoring teams around. Corydon Central hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 58.5 points per game. However, it's not like Evansville Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging 61.9 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can put up more.
Corydon Central came up short against Evansville Central when the teams last played back in November of 2024, falling 53-42. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Shirley, who dropped a double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Now that Corydon Central knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
