Basketball Game Preview: Trico Pioneers vs. Johnston City Indians

The Trico Pioneers will look to take advantage of their home court for the first time this season as they take on the Johnston City Indians at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Trico will be strutting in after a win while Johnston City will be coming in after a defeat.

Trico will bounce into Thursday's matchup after beating New Athens, who they had gone 1-8 against in their nine prior meetings. Trico took down New Athens 34-16 on Tuesday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Pioneers.

Meanwhile, Johnston City came up short against Sesser-Valier/Waltonville on Monday and fell 53-40. While losing is never fun, the Indians can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 274th, while the Red Devils are ranked 97th).

Johnston City has been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-3 record this season. As for Trico, the victory got them back to even at 4-4.

Trico ended up a good deal behind Johnston City in their previous meeting back in February, losing 50-33. Can Trico avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.