Basketball Game Preview: Zeigler-Royalton Tornadoes vs. Sesser-Valier Red Devils

Zeigler-Royalton is 1-9 against Sesser-Valier since December of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Zeigler-Royalton Tornadoes will be playing at home against the Sesser-Valier Red Devils at 6:00 p.m.

Zeigler-Royalton will head into Tuesday's game out to bounce back: they won a close one the last time they played, but unfortunately they suffered a serious change of fortune on Tuesday. They took a blow against Christopher, falling 77-40. The Tornadoes were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 42-19.

Despite the defeat, Zeigler-Royalton got top-tier performance from River Freeman, who went 7 of 12 en route to 16 points and three steals. That was a full 40% of Zeigler-Royalton's points, marking the third time in a row he's posted more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Lucas Rogers, who almost dropped a double-double on nine points and nine rebounds.

Meanwhile, Sesser-Valier can bid farewell to their six-game losing streak thanks to their game on Thursday. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past Vienna 57-54. The win was all the more spectacular given the Red Devils' disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 541st, while the Eagles are ranked 251st).

Zeigler-Royalton's loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 4-10. As for Sesser-Valier, their victory ended a four-game drought at home and bumped them up to 4-11.

Zeigler-Royalton might still be hurting after the 72-51 defeat they got from Sesser-Valier in their previous meeting back in December of 2024. Can Zeigler-Royalton avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.