Basketball Recap: Manteno Now 7-2 over Last Nine Games

It was a proper cat-fight when Manteno duked it out withSt. Anne on Friday. The Manteno Panthers had just enough and edged the St. Anne Cardinals out 70-67. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Panthers have posted since December 29, 2023.

Several Cardinals players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Chris Link, who went 11 for 23 on his way to 30 points and eight rebounds. The matchup was Link's fourth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Grant Pomaranski, who went 5 of 12 on his way to 17 points and five assists.

Manteno has been performing well recently as they've won seven of their last nine contests, which provided a nice bump to their 8-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 57.4 points per game. As for St. Anne, with the loss, they broke their five-game winning streak and moved their record to 10-5.

Manteno will have some time to savor their win since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on Morris at 7:00 p.m. on January 7, 2025. As for St. Anne, they didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next game, a 62-60 victory against Peotone on the 28th.