The Donovan Wildcats will stay at home for another game and welcome the Illinois Lutheran Chargers at 7:00 p.m. on February 9th. Hopefully Donovan focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up nine on Wednesday.
Winning is just a little bit easier when you work as a team to rack up eight more assists than your opponent, a fact Donovan proved. They walked away with a 47-34 victory over South Newton. The team accrued 35 points in the first half and coasted on those for the win.
Donovan can attribute much of their success to Griffen Walters, who almost dropped a double-double on 14 points and nine rebounds, and Braden Klecan, who scored 16 points. Ty Miller was another key contributor, scoring five points along with eight rebounds and two steals.
Meanwhile, Illinois Lutheran was beaten by Families of Faith Christian Academy 72-37 on Tuesday. Illinois Lutheran has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Illinois Lutheran's defeat came about despite a quality game from Tristan Biesterfeld, who scored 14 points. Another player making a difference was Jaden Walls, who scored seven points.
Donovan has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a massive bump to their 12-14 record this season. As for Illinois Lutheran, their defeat was their 16th straight on the road dating back to last season, which dropped their record down to 4-18.
Friday's game is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Donovan have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 29.6 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Illinois Lutheran struggles in that department as they've been averaging 24.8 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Donovan was able to grind out a solid win over Illinois Lutheran in their previous meeting back in December of 2023, winning 54-42. Does Donovan have another victory up their sleeve, or will Illinois Lutheran turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
