Basketball Game Preview: South County Vipers vs. Calvary Saints

The South County Vipers will challenge the Calvary Saints at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. South County is coming into the contest hot, having won their last five games.

South County is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Monday. They took down Pawnee 42-24.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Calvary). They claimed a resounding 90-40 victory over Illinois School for the Deaf. Given the Saints' advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 223rd, while the Tigers are ranked 656th), the result on Monday wasn't entirely unexpected.

South County better keep an eye on Luke Blackford. He was instrumental in Calvary's win, on his way to 29 points and five rebounds. The game was Blackford's 23rd in a row with at least 16 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Antione Hunter, who dropped a double-double with 21 points and 13 boards.

Calvary smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 22 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive boards they've posted since back in December of 2023.

Calvary is on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last 12 matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 22-10 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 70.3 points over those games. South County pushed their record up to 19-13 with the win, which was their third straight at home.

Things could have been worse for South County, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 71-53 loss to Calvary in their previous matchup back in January. Can South County avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.