Basketball Game Preview: Calvary Saints vs. South County Vipers

The Calvary Saints will challenge the South County Vipers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Calvary is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 63 points per game this season.

Last Monday, Calvary came up short against Decatur Eisenhower and fell 67-54. While losing is never fun, the Saints can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 252nd, while the Panthers are ranked 120th).

Calvary might have lost, but man, Luke Blackford was a machine: he dropped a double-double on 27 points and 12 boards. Blackford's afternoon made it 11 games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Antione Hunter, who posted ten points and six rebounds.

Even though they lost, Calvary smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in nine consecutive matches.

Meanwhile, South County was able to grind out a solid victory over Pawnee on Tuesday, taking the game 39-31. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Vipers.

Calvary's loss dropped their record down to 13-7. As for South County, the win got them back to even at 10-10.

Calvary didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against South County when the teams last played back in January of 2024, but they still walked away with a 64-60 victory. Does Calvary have another victory up their sleeve, or will South County turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.