A feisty cat fight will be fought when the Salem Wildcats duke it out with the Jersey Panthers at 4:00 p.m. on Friday... Salem will be strutting in after a win while Jersey will be coming in after a defeat.
Having struggled with eight losses in a row, Salem turned things around against East Alton-Wood River on Saturday. They blew past the Oilers, posting a 74-34 victory. The Wildcats' offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.
| 12/21/24 vs East Alton-Wood River | 22 |
| 11/25/23 vs Fairfield | 16 |
| 12/03/24 @ St. Anthony | 15 |
| 12/20/24 vs Freeburg | 15 |
| 11/29/24 vs Mt. Carmel | 14 |
Noah Nix went supernova for Salem, going 8 for 12 on his way to 22 points and five rebounds. Those 22 points gave Nix a new career-high. Miking Ettress was another key player, going 7 of 9 on his way to 15 points.
Meanwhile, Jersey ended up a good deal behind Waterloo on Monday and lost 57-41. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 538th, while the Bulldogs are ranked 53rd).
Salem will have to contain John Paul Vogel as he made an impact in Jersey's last game. He went 7 of 13 on his way to 15 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jaxon Brunaugh, who posted nine points in addition to six rebounds and three steals.
Salem's win was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-3 and their overall record up to 2-9. As for Jersey, they dropped their record down to 2-10 with the defeat, which was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Salem has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 22.3 boards per game. However, it's not like Jersey struggles in that department as they've been averaging 21.2 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Salem came up short against Jersey when the teams last played back in December of 2019, falling 58-51. Can Salem avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
