Basketball Game Preview: Paxton-Buckley-Loda Panthers vs. Bloomington Central Catholic Saints

Paxton-Buckley-Loda is 0-3 against Bloomington Central Catholic since January of 2022 but things could change on Monday. The Paxton-Buckley-Loda Panthers will host the Bloomington Central Catholic Saints at 7:00 p.m. Given that both suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this match.

Paxton-Buckley-Loda is headed into Monday's game looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their 13th straight game on Thursday. They came up short against Iroquois West, falling 44-19.

Meanwhile, Bloomington Central Catholic unfortunately witnessed the end of their four-game winning streak on Saturday. The contest between them and Quincy Notre Dame didn't end well, with Bloomington Central Catholic falling 51-37. While losing is never fun, the Saints can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 83rd, while the Raiders are ranked 11th).

Despite the loss, Bloomington Central Catholic saw an underclassman step up: freshman Karissa Cook went 5 for 8 on her way to 11 points. Cook is trending in the right direction considering she's improved her point production for three straight games.

Paxton-Buckley-Loda's defeat dropped their record down to 2-22. As for Bloomington Central Catholic, their loss dropped their record down to 16-7.

Paxton-Buckley-Loda was taken down by Bloomington Central Catholic 69-21 in their previous matchup back in February of 2024. That match was all but decided by halftime, at which point Paxton-Buckley-Loda was down 39-6.