The Southport Cardinals will venture away from home to square off against the Ben Davis Giants at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday.
Southport is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Indiana's top teams: Perry Meridian, who was ranked eighth at the time (Southport was ranked 22nd). The Cardinals fell just short of the Falcons by a score of 3-2 on Friday.
Southport wouldn't go down easily and took Perry Meridian into a fifth set but they suffered a heartbreaking three-point loss. The match finished with set scores of 23-25, 25-23, 21-25, 25-20, 15-12.
Francis Lian
| 04/04/25 vs Perry Meridian | 41 |
| 04/02/25 vs New Palestine | 36 |
| 04/01/25 @ Center Grove | 37 |
| 03/24/25 vs Hamilton Southeastern | 14 |
| 03/22/25 vs Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory | 22 |
| + 3 more games |
Despite the defeat, Southport had strong showings from Rey Martinez, who had ten digs and one assist, and Francis Lian, who had 41 assists and eight digs. Lian is crushing it when it comes to assists: he's posted at least 14 every time he's taken the court this season. Moses Beimolai also deserves some recognition as he had his first blocks of the season.
Meanwhile, Ben Davis made easy work of Tri-West Hendricks on Wednesday and carried off a 3-0 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Giants.
Ben Davis never let Tri-West Hendricks on the board, but things got pretty close in the first set. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-23, 25-17, 25-21.
Ben Davis' win bumped their record up to 2-0. As for Southport, they have traveled a rocky road recently, having lost three of their last four contests. That's put a noticeable dent in their 3-5 record this season.
Everything went Southport's way against Ben Davis when the teams last played back in April of 2024, as Southport made off with a 3-0 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Cardinals since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
