Basketball Game Preview: Litchfield Purple Panthers vs. Gillespie Miners

The Litchfield Purple Panthers will take on the Gillespie Miners at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Gillespie took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Litchfield, who comes in off a win.

Last Tuesday, in a tight contest that could have gone either way, Litchfield made off with a 44-43 win over Carlinville.

Meanwhile, Gillespie was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their fifth straight loss. They took a hard 55-41 fall against Southwestern. While losing is never fun, the Miners can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 641st, while the Piasa Birds are ranked 310th).

Litchfield's victory ended a four-game drought on the road and puts them at 13-17. Those losses can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 51.5 points over those games. As for Gillespie, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-21.

Everything went Litchfield's way against Gillespie in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, as Litchfield made off with a 61-40 win. In that matchup, Litchfield amassed a halftime lead of 36-15, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Thursday.