The Sacred Heart-Griffin Cyclones came tearing into Friday's matchup with seven straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 23.1 points) and they left with even more momentum. They came out on top against Springfield Southeast by a score of 45-37. Given Sacred Heart-Griffin's advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 88th, while Springfield Southeast is ranked 281st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
When it comes to explaining why Springfield Southeast lost, one person who can't be blamed is Marisa Gant. Despite the final result, she scored 16 points along with three steals. That was a full 43.2% of Springfield Southeast's points, marking the third time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Zaria Weston was another key contributor, scoring nine points.
Sacred Heart-Griffin has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won ten of their last 11 games, which provided a massive bump to their 17-8 record this season. As for Springfield Southeast, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 8-14.
Sacred Heart-Griffin won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Springfield at 6:30 p.m. on January 20th. Springfield is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last seven games. Springfield Southeast won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against Lanphier at 3:00 p.m. on January 20th. Lanphier is hoping to put an end to a seven-game streak of away losses.
