Basketball Game Preview: Taylorville Tornadoes vs. Lincoln Railsplitters

Taylorville is 1-9 against Lincoln since January of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Taylorville Tornadoes will challenge the Lincoln Railsplitters at 7:30 p.m. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this game.

It's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 73-20, which was the final score in Taylorville's tilt against Alton on Thursday. While losing is never fun, the Tornadoes can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 102nd, while the Redbirds are ranked fourth).

Meanwhile, Lincoln fought the good fight in their overtime match against Springfield on Tuesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They took a 77-72 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Senators. The Railsplitters' loss signaled the end of their four-game winning streak.

Lincoln's defeat dropped their record down to 12-10. As for Taylorville, their loss dropped their record down to 12-8.

Taylorville was dealt a bruising 72-32 defeat at the hands of Lincoln in their previous matchup back in January of 2024. That contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point Taylorville was down 51-19.