Preview: Mt. Vernon Rams vs. Effingham Flaming Hearts
Mt. Vernon and Effingham are an even 3-3 against one another since December of 2018, but not for long. The Mt. Vernon Rams will be staying on the road on Tuesday to face off against the Effingham Flaming Hearts at 7:30 p.m. on February 20th. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Mt. Vernon extended their postseason success on Friday against East St. Louis. They walked away with a 59-48 win over the Flyers. Given Mt. Vernon's advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 55th, while East St. Louis is ranked 225th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Mt. Vernon's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Melaina Zedalis, who scored 19 points, and Kamaree Janae Pollard, who scored 20 points. Another player making a difference was Tiara Johnson, who scored 11 points.
Meanwhile, Effingham entered their tilt with Centralia with 11 consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with 12. Effingham skirted past Centralia 61-59.
Mt. Vernon's win bumped their record up to 26-6. As for Effingham, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 18 of their last 19 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 28-4 record this season.
Mt. Vernon couldn't quite finish off Effingham when the teams last played back in November of 2023 and fell 65-63. Can Mt. Vernon avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
