Basketball Game Preview: Manteno Panthers vs. Coal City Coalers

Manteno is 2-8 against Coal City since February of 2021 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Monday. The Manteno Panthers will square off against the Coal City Coalers at 7:00 p.m. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Manteno comes in on 15 and Coal City on five.

If Manteno beats Coal City with 51 points on Monday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two matchups with that exact score. Manteno enjoyed a cozy 51-36 victory over Herscher on Thursday. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 164th, while the Tigers are ranked 341st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Coal City posted their biggest win since December 5, 2024 on Friday. They blew past Reed-Custer 48-28.

Coal City has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven contests, which provided a nice bump to their 12-5 record this season. As for Manteno, they pushed their record up to 15-0 with the victory, which was their 14th straight at home dating back to last season.

Manteno came out on top in a nail-biter against Coal City in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, sneaking past 30-27. The rematch might be a little tougher for Manteno since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.