Basketball Recap: Sawyer Smith's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Carlinville over Southwestern

After soaring to 74 points the game before, Carlinville was a bit more limited in their matchup on Wednesday. They took a hard 46-28 fall against the Southwestern Piasa Birds. The contest marked the Cavaliers' lowest-scoring game so far this season.

Sawyer Smith

Steals

12/11/23 vs Carrollton	4
11/26/24 vs North Greene	4
01/22/25 vs Southwestern	3
01/10/24 vs Brown County	3
12/26/23 vs Gillespie	3

Several Cavaliers players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Sawyer Smith, who posted five points and three steals. That's the most steals Smith has posted since back in November of 2024. Tate Duckels was another key player, putting up four points and 11 rebounds.

Ian Brantley was his usual excellent self, dropping a double-double on 17 points and 17 boards for Southwestern. The team also got some help courtesy of Connor Wood, who had nine points and five assists.

Carlinville has been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-10 record this season. As for Southwestern, the victory (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 12-9.

Carlinville has already played their next game, a 49-48 defeat against Bunker Hill on the 24th. As for Southwestern, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 37-21 loss against Staunton on the 24th.