The Mt. Olive Wildcats will face off against the Carlinville Cavaliers at 1:30 p.m. on Monday. Mt. Olive is hoping to put an end to an 11-game streak of away losses dating back to last season.
Mt. Olive suffered their biggest loss since December 5, 2023 on Friday. They took a serious blow against South County, falling 58-28. While losing is never fun, Mt. Olive can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 759th, while South County is ranked 187th).
Despite the loss, Mt. Olive had strong showings from Matthew Bywater, who scored nine points along with ten rebounds and seven steals, and Dexter Frizzo, who scored nine points along with two steals. Frizzo continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played.
Meanwhile, Carlinville beat Brown County 44-33 on Wednesday.
Carlinville relied on the efforts of Dom Alepra, who scored 18 points, and Sawyer Smith, who scored 12 points along with nine rebounds and three steals. That makes it three consecutive games in which Alepra has scored at least a third of Carlinville's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Triston Thompson, who scored ten points along with four steals.
Mt. Olive has not been sharp recently, as they've lost seven of their last eight contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-15 record this season. As for Carlinville, their victory bumped their record up to 8-9.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Mt. Olive have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 18.4 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Carlinville struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 24 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Mt. Olive ended up a good deal behind Carlinville in their previous meeting back in January of 2023, losing 72-56. Can Mt. Olive avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
