Basketball Game Preview: Bunker Hill Minutemen vs. Carlinville Cavaliers

Two dominant forwards in Cole Yates and Sawyer Smith are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Bunker Hill Minutemen will face off against the Carlinville Cavaliers at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Last Friday, Bunker Hill didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Maryville Christian, but they still walked away with a 39-33 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Minutemen.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Bunker Hill to victory, but perhaps none more so than Will Manar, who posted 13 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Bryce Yates, who earned ten points.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Carlinville, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Friday. They blew past Athens 68-43 on Saturday. With that win, the Cavaliers brought their scoring average up to 50.3 points per game.

Carlinville's win came from a few key players Bunker Hill will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Tate Duckels, who went 7 for 8 on his way to 15 points in addition to seven assists and four steals. Those seven assists gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Dominic Alepra, who went 7 of 12 from beyond the arc en route to 25 points.

Carlinville was working as a unit and finished the game with 22 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.

Bunker Hill has been performing well recently as they've won seven of their last nine contests, which provided a nice bump to their 9-13 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 53.3 points per game. As for Carlinville, they pushed their record up to 9-12 with the victory, which was their third straight at home.

Bunker Hill barely slipped by Carlinville when the teams last played last Friday, winning 49-48. Will Bunker Hill repeat their success, or does Carlinville have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.