Basketball Game Preview: Carlinville Cavaliers vs. Bunker Hill Minutemen

Two dominant forwards in Sawyer Smith and Cole Yates are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Carlinville Cavaliers will be taking part in a tournament against the Bunker Hill Minutemen at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Neither of these teams found much success offensively their last time out, scoring well below their season average.

Carlinville's tournament run continued when they took on Southwestern on Wednesday. Carlinville lost to Southwestern at home by a 46-28 margin. The contest marked the Cavaliers' lowest-scoring match so far this season.

Meanwhile, Bunker Hill unfortunately witnessed the end of their four-game winning streak on Wednesday. They came up short against Staunton, falling 51-25. While losing is never fun, the Minutemen can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 535th, while the Bulldogs are ranked 179th).

Carlinville will have to contain Yates as he made an impact in Bunker Hill's last game. He posted seven points.

Carlinville has traveled a rocky road recently having lost three of their last four games, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-10 record this season. As for Bunker Hill, their loss dropped their record down to 6-12.

Carlinville was able to grind out a solid win over Bunker Hill when the teams last played back in January of 2024, winning 51-42. Will Carlinville repeat their success, or does Bunker Hill have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.