Preview: West Prairie Cyclones vs. Mendon Unity Mustangs
West Prairie is 0-5 against Mendon Unity since December of 2016 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The West Prairie Cyclones will head out on the road to take on the Mendon Unity Mustangs at 6:00 p.m. West Prairie is no doubt hoping to put an end to a 24-game streak of away losses dating back to last season.
On Wednesday, West Prairie was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 49-43 to Havana. West Prairie has struggled against Havana recently, as their game on Wednesday was their eighth consecutive lost matchup.
Despite the loss, West Prairie saw an underclassman step up: Braden Coplan scored 24 points. That was a full 55.8% of West Prairie's points, marking the 12th time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Matt Whitman, who scored eight points.
Meanwhile, Mendon Unity pushed their score all the way to 66 on Tuesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They fell 78-66 to Quincy Notre Dame. While losing is never fun, Mendon Unity can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 412th, while Quincy Notre Dame is ranked 174th).
West Prairie has been struggling recently as they've lost 12 of their last 13 games, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-23 record this season. As for Mendon Unity, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 15-13.
West Prairie was dealt a bruising 68-41 defeat at the hands of Mendon Unity when the teams last played back in January. Can West Prairie avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
