Basketball Recap: El Paso-Gridley's Luck Takes a Turn for the Worse on Saturday

Titans

Previous 5 Games

02/01/25 @ Normal West	49-53
01/31/25 vs Fieldcrest	67-56
01/28/25 @ Fisher	68-42
01/25/25 vs Tri-Valley	71-69
01/24/25 vs Fieldcrest	58-56

It was a good run, but El Paso-Gridley unfortunately witnessed the end of their five-game winning streak on Saturday. They took a 53-49 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Normal West Wildcats. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as the Titans came into the contest with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 125th, while the Wildcats are ranked 364th).

Normal West's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Maliq Givens-Smith led the charge by dropping a double-double on 18 points and ten boards. That's the most rebounds Givens-Smith has posted since back in December of 2024. Michael Zaleski was another key player, putting up 15 points and five boards.

El Paso-Gridley's defeat dropped their record down to 17-6. As for Normal West, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 7-16 record this season.

El Paso-Gridley will be playing in front of their home fans against Eureka at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. As for Normal West, they will get to enjoy the win for a while: their next game is against East Peoria at 7:00 p.m. on February 11th.