The Delavan Panthers and the Peoria Heights Patriots will face off at 5:00 p.m. on January 13th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Hopefully Delavan focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 12 on Thursday.
Last Thursday, Delavan was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 53-48 to Peoria Christian. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Delavan in their matchups with Peoria Christian: they've now lost three in a row.
Despite their loss, Delavan saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Micah Brockhouse, who scored 16 points along with two steals, was perhaps the best of all. The team also got some help courtesy of Cooper Hansen, who scored ten points.
Meanwhile, Peoria Heights was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Thursday as they fell 54-49 to Illini Bluffs. While losing is never fun, Peoria Heights can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 410th, while Illini Bluffs is ranked 126th).
Delavan's loss dropped their record down to 10-10. As for Peoria Heights, they now have a losing record at 8-9.
Delavan didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Peoria Heights when the teams last played back in February of 2023, but they still walked away with a 39-35 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Delavan since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
