Basketball Game Preview: Chicago Mt. Carmel Caravan vs. St. Rita Mustangs

Chicago Mt. Carmel hasn't had much luck against St. Rita recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Chicago Mt. Carmel Caravan are taking a road trip to square off against the St. Rita Mustangs at 7:00 p.m. Chicago Mt. Carmel is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 65.1 points per game this season.

On Tuesday, Chicago Mt. Carmel came up short against St. Laurence and fell 75-65. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Friday (57), the Caravan still had to take the loss.

Despite their loss, Chicago Mt. Carmel saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Cameron Thomas, who dropped a double-double on 24 points and 14 boards, was perhaps the best of all. Those 14 rebounds gave Thomas a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Grant Best, who went 6 of 13 on his way to 17 points and six boards.

Even though they lost, Chicago Mt. Carmel smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive rebounds in three consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, St. Rita was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their fifth straight defeat. They lost 65-44 to Marmion. While losing is never fun, the Mustangs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 420th, while the Cadets are ranked 204th).

St. Rita's loss dropped their record down to 4-18. As for Chicago Mt. Carmel, their defeat dropped their record down to 18-5.

Chicago Mt. Carmel was able to grind out a solid victory over St. Rita in their previous matchup back in January of 2024, winning 51-38. The rematch might be a little tougher for Chicago Mt. Carmel since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.