Basketball Game Preview: Streator Bulldogs vs. Wilmington Wildcats

Streator hasn't had much luck against Wilmington recently, but that could start to change on Monday. The Streator Bulldogs will challenge the Wilmington Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this matchup.

Streator is headed into Monday's contest looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their third straight game on Friday. They took a hard 60-42 fall against Pontiac. While losing is never fun, the Bulldogs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 642nd, while the Indians are ranked 320th).

Meanwhile, Wilmington suffered their biggest loss since November 18, 2024 on Saturday. They lost 45-21 to Morris. The defeat continues a trend for the Wildcats in their matchups with the Redskins: they've now lost five in a row.

Streator will have to keep a close watch on Nina Egizio and Sami Liaromatis, a pair of players who had a big impact on Wilmington's prior game. Egizio posted six points, while Liaromatis scored eight points and seven rebounds. The dominant performance also gave Egizio a new career-high in three-point shooting accuracy (50%).

Even though they lost, Wilmington smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in three consecutive games.

Streator's record now sits at 2-27. As for Wilmington, their record is now 19-8.

Things could have been worse for Streator, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 50-32 loss to Wilmington in their previous meeting back in January. Can Streator avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.