Basketball Game Preview: Wilmington Wildcats vs. Streator Bulldogs

Wilmington has gone 9-1 against Streator recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Monday. The Wilmington Wildcats will host the Streator Bulldogs 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.

Wilmington is headed into the contest having just suffered their biggest defeat since November 18, 2024 on Saturday. They came up short against Morris, falling 45-21. The loss continues a trend for the Wildcats in their matchups with the Redskins: they've now lost five in a row.

Sami Liaromatis

Steals

02/08/25 vs Morris	2
02/06/25 @ Peotone	5
02/03/25 @ Lisle	2
01/30/25 vs Coal City	2
01/27/25 vs Herscher	2
+ 11 more games

Despite the defeat, Wilmington had strong showings from Nina Egizio, who posted six points, and Sami Liaromatis, who scored eight points and seven boards. Liaromatis is also on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last 16 games she's played.

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

Meanwhile, Streator was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their third straight loss. They took a 60-42 bruising from 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).

Streator's defeat dropped their record down to 2-27. As for Wilmington, their loss dropped their record down to 19-8.

Wilmington strolled past Streator in their previous matchup back in January by a score of 50-32. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Streator's Ava Gwaltney, who went 8 of 20 on her way to 24 points and six steals. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Wilmington still be able to contain Gwaltney? There's only one way to find out.