Basketball Recap: Thornton Falls Despite Big Games from Deandre Higgs and Jeremy Blanco-Rios

Thornton was the 60-35 winner over Crete-Monee when they last played one another back in February of 2024, but their luck changed this time around. The Thornton Wildcats fell to the Crete-Monee Warriors 47-41. While losing is never fun, the Wildcats can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 312th, while the Warriors are ranked 97th).

Despite the defeat, Thornton had strong showings from Jeremy Blanco-Rios, who posted 12 points and five assists, and Deandre Higgs, who went 7 of 14 on his way to 16 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Greg Fourte, who put up five points and five rebounds.

This is the second loss in a row for Thornton and nudges their season record down to 5-10. As for Crete-Monee, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 15-6 record this season.

When Thornton and Crete-Monee next hit the court, they'll be up against teams who recently just can't seem to lose. Thornton will try to stop Bloom's three-game winning streak when the meet at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Meanwhile, Crete-Monee will try to stop Rich Township's eight-game winning streak when the meet at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.