Preview: Mater Dei Knights vs. Breese Central Cougars
The Mater Dei Knights will be playing at home against the Breese Central Cougars at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Last Tuesday, Mater Dei strolled past the Wildcats with points to spare, taking the game 62-43. Mater Dei pushed the score to 51-31 by the end of the third, a deficit the Wildcats cut but never quite recovered from.
Drake Wagner was his usual excellent self, scoring 25 points along with two steals. That makes it four consecutive games in which he has scored at least a third of Mater Dei's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Nick Lampe, who scored 13 points.
Meanwhile, Breese Central entered their tilt with the Bulldogs with 12 consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with 13. Breese Central came out on top against the Bulldogs by a score of 56-46 on Saturday. Given Breese Central's advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 23rd, while the Bulldogs are ranked 120th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Mater Dei's win bumped their record up to 13-14. As for Breese Central, they pushed their record up to 21-1 with that win, which was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season.
Mater Dei ended up a good deal behind the Cougars in their previous meeting back in February of 2023, losing 51-37. Will Mater Dei have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more basketball content.
