Fans at Wednesday's non-league challenge between the Pope County Pirates (Golconda, IL) and the host Joppa-Maple Grove Rangers (Joppa, IL), saw Pope County's basketball squad wallop Joppa-Maple Grove by a tally of 64-9.

With the victory, Pope County improves its record to 15-1 on the campaign. The Pirates travel to Galatia/Thompsonville (Galatia, IL) to confront the Bearcats in a Greater Egyptian challenge on Thursday, January 4. The Bearcats come into the challenge with a record of 1-6. Galatia/Thompsonville won 19-16 in their recent non-league challenge against Shawnee (Wolf Lake, IL)

Next up, the Rangers confront the Shawnee Redskins (Wolf Lake, IL) in a South Egyptian challenge, on Monday, January 8. Joppa-Maple Grove will attempt to improve on its 0-6 season record.