Basketball Game Preview: Normal West Wildcats vs. Normal Community Ironmen

Normal West hasn't had much luck against Normal Community recently, but that could start to change on Wednesday. The Normal West Wildcats will be playing at home against the Normal Community Ironmen at 6:00 p.m.

Normal West is headed into Wednesday's game looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their fourth straight game on Friday. They were beaten by Normal Community 68-37. While losing is never fun, the Wildcats can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 375th, while the Ironmen are ranked 33rd).

Normal West's defeat came about despite a quality game from Michael Zaleski, who posted 14 points. What's more, Zaleski also posted a 50% three-point shooting accuracy, which is the highest he's achieved since back in December of 2024. Another player making a difference was Maliq Givens-Smith, who earned four points and three steals.

Normal Community is on a roll lately: they've won 12 of their last 14 matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 25-6 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 63.2 points over those games. Normal West's loss dropped their record down to 7-20.