After flying high against the Maroa-Forsyth Trojans last Monday, the Mt. Zion Braves came back down to earth. Mt. Zion fell 60-50 to Mattoon on Friday. It was the first time this season that Mt. Zion let down their fans at home.
When it comes to explaining why Mt. Zion lost, one person who can't be blamed is Denver Anderson. Despite the final result, she scored 21 points along with seven rebounds and five assists. The game was Anderson's 11th in a row with at least ten points. Jocelyn Turner was another key contributor, scoring 12 points along with six rebounds.
Mt. Zion's loss ended a five-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 10-4. As for Mattoon, they pushed their record up to 10-1 with that win, which was their seventh straight on the road dating back to last season.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Mt. Zion won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against Tolono Unity at 11:30 a.m. on December 16th. Hopefully Tolono Unity focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 16 last Monday. Mattoon will be home for the holidays to greet Marshall at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Marshall will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Illinois Rankings (they are ranked 512th, while Mattoon is ranked 68th).
