Basketball Recap: Sawyer Smith Leads a Balanced Attack to Beat Pawnee

A well-balanced attack led Carlinville over Pawnee in every quarter on their way to victory on Thursday. The Carlinville Cavaliers took down the Pawnee Indians 66-48. The Cavaliers have seen this before: they got the W the last time they saw the Indians, too.

Sawyer Smith

Rebounds

12/09/23 vs Edinburg	14
02/19/24 @ Litchfield	14
01/30/25 vs Pawnee	13
12/05/23 vs SIUE East St. Louis Charter	13
12/28/23 vs East Alton-Wood River	13

Carlinville's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Sawyer Smith led the charge by dropping a double-double on 20 points and 13 boards. That's the most rebounds Smith has posted since back in February of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Tate Duckels, who went 8 of 10 en route to 18 points.

The win made it two in a row for Carlinville and bumps their season record up to 8-11. As for Pawnee, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 5-15.

Carlinville and Pawnee could both be facing uphill battles in their next games considering their disadvantage in the MaxPreps Illinois Rankings. Carlinville will face off against Staunton at 7:30 p.m. on Friday down 296 places (442 vs. 146). Similarly, Pawnee (ranked 561st) will meet Greenfield/Northwestern (ranked 238th) at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.