Evansville Reitz had already proven themselves in the regular season and they didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. They came out on top against the Castle Knights by a score of 66-56 on Friday. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 32nd, while the Knights are ranked 90th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Jaylan Mitchell
| 03/07/25 vs Castle | 13 |
| 03/01/25 vs St. Mary's | 12 |
| 02/28/25 vs Evansville Bosse | 10 |
Evansville Reitz found their leader in sophomore Jaylan Mitchell, who dropped a double-double with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Mitchell is on a roll when it comes to boards, as he's now pulled down ten or more in each of the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Jayce Swanson, who went 6-for-9 to rack up 18 points.
Despite the loss, Castle had strong showings from Xander Niehaus, who shot 54% from the field en route to 21 points and four steals, and Jakob Wongler, who went 5-for-10 on his way to 14 points and three steals. Niehaus is becoming a predictor of Castle's success: when he posts at least 20 points the team is 4-2 (and 9-10 when he doesn't). The team also got some help courtesy of Tim Swope, who posted nine points.
Evansville Reitz's win bumped their record up to 16-5. As for Castle, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 13-12.
Evansville Reitz has already played their next game, a 68-61 defeat against Evansville Harrison on the 8th. Castle does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
