The Litchfield Purple Panthers will head out on the road to challenge the Southwestern Piasa Birds at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Litchfield is no doubt hoping to put an end to a 12-game streak of away losses dating back to last season.
Last Thursday, Litchfield took a serious blow against the Comets, falling 57-12. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Litchfield in their matchups with the Comets: they've now lost eight in a row.
Despite the defeat, Litchfield had strong showings from Chloe Law, who scored eight points, and Madi Jenkins, who scored four points along with seven rebounds.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Litchfield struggled to work together and finished the game with only three assists. They are winless (0-4) when they just don't pass the ball.
Meanwhile, Southwestern ended up a good deal behind the Cavaliers on Thursday and lost 44-29. While losing is never fun, Southwestern can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 485th, while the Cavaliers are ranked 178th).
Litchfield has traveled a rocky road recently having lost 14 of their last 15 contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-23 record this season. As for Southwestern, their defeat dropped their record down to 11-17.
Everything went Litchfield's way against the Piasa Birds in their previous meeting back in February of 2023 as the Purple Panthers made off with a 38-16 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Litchfield since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
