Basketball Game Preview: Herscher Tigers vs. Wilmington Wildcats

A feisty cat fight is on tap when the Herscher Tigers take on the Wilmington Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday... Herscher will be strutting in after a victory while Wilmington will be coming in after a loss.

Herscher is coming into the matchup on the come-up as their season has now been buoyed by two straight wins. They snuck past Watseka with a 56-52 victory on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Wilmington suffered their closest defeat since February 13, 2024 on Friday. They fell just short of Manteno by a score of 52-49. The loss continues a trend for the Wildcats in their matchups with the Panthers: they've now lost five in a row.

Herscher will have to contain Ryan Nelson as he made an impact in Wilmington's last game. He almost dropped a double-double on 23 points and nine boards. The dominant performance gave Nelson a new career-high in points. Lucas Rink was another key player, putting up 11 points.

Herscher's win ended a five-game drought on the road and puts them at 7-14. As for Wilmington, their defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 13-8.

Herscher couldn't quite finish off Wilmington in their previous matchup back in December of 2024 and fell 37-35. Can Herscher avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.