vs
| 12/27/23 - Neutral | 49-24 W |
| 12/29/17 - Neutral | 66-41 W |
| 12/26/14 - Neutral | 41-39 W |
Richland County is 3-0 against Roxana since December of 2014 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Monday. Both will round out the year against one another at at 4:00 p.m. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
It was a proper cat-fight when Richland County faced off against Jersey on Saturday. Richland County took a 60-51 hit to the loss column at the hands of Jersey. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as the Tigers came into the game with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 228th, while the Panthers are ranked 528th).
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Rex Hallam, who went 5 of 10 en route to 12 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Reid Brown, who posted eight points and five rebounds.
Meanwhile, Roxana came up short against Carlyle on Saturday and fell 53-45. The Shells have struggled against the Indians/Lady Indians recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive lost matchup.
Richland County will have to contain Jake Newton as he made an impact in Roxana's last game. He put up eight points and ten rebounds. The dominant performance gave Newton a new career-high in rebounds. Another player making a difference was Cohen Dugan, who had eight points.
Richland County has been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 8-7 record this season. Those losses can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 50.5 points per game. As for Roxana, they now have a losing record at 6-7.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Richland County has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 21.7 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Roxana struggles in that department as they've been averaging 26.2 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Richland County took their win against Roxana in their previous matchup back in December of 2023 by a conclusive 49-24. Will Richland County repeat their success, or does Roxana have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
