Recap: Crane Medical Cougars vs. Ogden International
The Crane Medical Cougars waltzed into their matchup on Wednesday with three straight wins but they left with four. They had just enough and edged Ogden International out 66-64. Given Crane Medical's advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 193rd, while Ogden International is ranked 426th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Crane Medical to victory, but perhaps none more so than LaVelle Hardy, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 11 rebounds. Hardy's trending in the right direction, as he's improved his point production for four games straight. The team also got some help courtesy of Brad Blackman, who scored nine points along with 12 rebounds and five blocks.
Several Ogden International players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Alonte' Reynolds, who scored 25 points. That was a full 39.1% of Ogden International's points, marking the fifth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Deshawn Perry-Tucker, who scored 16 points.
Crane Medical is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 15-7 record this season. As for Ogden International, they dropped their record down to 11-12 with that defeat, which was their fifth straight on the road.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Crane Medical will challenge Clemente at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. Ogden International will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on Kaneland at 5:00 p.m. on February 14th.
