Basketball Recap: Champaign Central Comes Up Short

Champaign Central lost against Alton back in December of 2023 and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Saturday. The Champaign Central Maroons fell just short of the Alton Redbirds by a score of 55-53. While losing is never fun, the Maroons can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 126th, while the Redbirds are ranked eighth).

When it comes to explaining why Champaign Central lost, don't look at Luke Swanson. Despite the final result, he went 7 of 13 en route to 15 points. Another player making a difference was Chris Bush, who went 6 of 8 en route to 15 points and five rebounds.

Champaign Central's record now sits at 8-6. As for Alton, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 13-2 record this season.

Champaign Central will have a little extra prep time after the defeat as they won't be playing again for a while. They'll take on Peoria Notre Dame at 7:00 p.m. on January 10th. Alton will also get a bit of a break before their next contest: they'll face off against Belleville West at 7:30 p.m. on January 7th.