Basketball Game Preview: Wilmington Wildcats vs. Herscher Tigers

A feisty cat fight is on tap when the Wilmington Wildcats challenge the Herscher Tigers at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday...

Wilmington is headed into the match having just suffered their closest defeat since February 13, 2024 on Friday. They fell just short of Manteno by a score of 52-49. The Wildcats have struggled against the Panthers recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive lost matchup.

Wilmington might have lost, but man, Ryan Nelson was a machine: he almost dropped a double-double on 23 points and nine boards. The dominant performance gave Nelson a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Lucas Rink, who posted 11 points.

Herscher hasn't had quite the year their fans were hoping for to this point, but back-to-back wins may be a sign of good things to come. They managed a 56-52 victory over Watseka on Saturday.

Wilmington's loss ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 13-8. As for Herscher, their win ended a five-game drought on the road and puts them at 7-14.

Wilmington came out on top in a nail-biter against Herscher in their previous meeting back in December of 2024, sneaking past 37-35. Will Wilmington repeat their success, or does Herscher have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.