Basketball Recap: Normal Community's Higher State Rank on Full Display on Monday

Normal Community won the last time they faced Rockford East and things went their way on Monday too. The Normal Community Ironmen secured a 65-60 W over the Rockford East E-Rabs. Given the Ironmen's advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 52nd, while the E-Rabs are ranked 213th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Several E-Rabs players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Brian Harper, who went 6 of 15 on his way to 19 points and five assists. Harper is also on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last nine games he's played. Sterling Hoarde was another key player, almost dropping a double-double on 14 points and nine boards.

Normal Community is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 14-4 record this season. As for Rockford East, their record is now 11-10.

Normal Community will welcome Manual at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. As for Rockford East, they wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next contest, a 59-56 loss against Wheaton-Warrenville South on the 20th.