The Cards have played in games that are back-to-back on three different occasions. But, tonight and tomorrow night, the Cards have to play in back-to-back game against two teams that both have winning records and the Cards have a lot on the line during these games.

Tonight, the Cardinals play against the Terre Haute South Braves (15-5) for a chance to go 7-0 in conference play and win the Conference Indiana title for the second straight years. Tomorrow night, the Cards have to play against the number one ranked team in the state, the Evansville FJ Reitz Panthers (21-0).

The Braves are 4-2 in conference play, yet still are a danger to the Cards, according to boys basketball head coach Kyle Simpson. The Braves are “pesky” and they get under the skin of their opponent.

“They attempt a lot of three-point shots, so we are going to have to guard the three line well,” Simpson said. “We are going to give them problems because the tallest guy on their team is 6 foot 2, and we start four that are taller than that. It’s going to be a chess match, if we can defend them on the perimeter and slow them down a bit, we can win.”

Sophomore guard Jaylen Minnett leads the Braves in scoring with 17.9 PPG, leads the team in assists with 5.4 per game and leads the team in steals with 2.3 per game. Simpson says that the Braves are young, but they know how to do what they do, which is play with speed.

FJ Rietz leads the state in points per game and is second in the country with 92.8. The starting lineup for the Panthers has four seniors and one junior, and each one of them averages double-digit points per game. Jaelan Sanford leads the Panthers with 21.3 points per game. Senior Alex Stein is second in scoring 18 points a game, second in assists with 4.6, and leads the team in rebounds with 5.8 a game.

The size of SHS will play a huge role for the Cards, according to Simpson. FJ Rietz tallest player is their 6 foot 5 forward Jacob Norman, while the cards have Senior Demari Davis and Junior Joey Brunk at 6 foot 6 and 6 foot 10 respectively.

The game style will be ever flowing for the Cards, according to Simpson. Everything the team has in its arsenal could be used especially when it comes to their defense.

“I was once told that (as a coach) if you have to play eight different styles of defense, then play eight styles of defense,” Simpson said. “ If you only have to play two, the play two. I like to create chaos for the other team when it comes to the way we play our defense.”

The Cards play Terre Haute South tonight at 7:30 and the Cards play FJ Rietz tomorrow night at 7:30.