Basketball Game Preview: Clinton Maroons vs. Paxton-Buckley-Loda Panthers

Having just played yesterday, the Clinton Maroons will jump right back in to play the Paxton-Buckley-Loda Panthers at 11:30 a.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Clinton has four straight wins, Paxton-Buckley-Loda has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Clinton picked up another tournament win on Thursday. They managed a 59-53 victory over Neoga. Given the Maroons' advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 173rd, while the Indians are ranked 397th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Paxton-Buckley-Loda had to suffer through a 64-18 loss at the hands of Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley.

Clinton has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 10-3 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 62.0 points per game. As for Paxton-Buckley-Loda, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-12.

Clinton came up short against Paxton-Buckley-Loda in their previous matchup back in December of 2019, falling 60-50. Can Clinton avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.