The Pana Panthers will head out on the road to take on the Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond Knights at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Pana is no doubt hoping to put an end to a ten-game streak of away losses.
Last Thursday, Pana had to suffer through a rough 54-20 loss at the hands of Gillespie. While losing is never fun, Pana can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 508th, while Gillespie is ranked 155th).
Despite the loss, Pana saw an underclassman step up: Delaney Hackler scored six points.
Meanwhile, everything came up roses for Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond on the road against Blue Ridge on Tuesday as the team secured a 39-11 victory. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 34-7.
It was another big night for Claire Seal, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and ten rebounds. That makes it three consecutive games in which she has scored at least a third of Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Addi Yeakel, who scored eight points along with seven rebounds and two steals.
Pana has not been sharp recently as the team has lost nine of their last ten games, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-26 record this season. As for Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 18-12.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Pana have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 20.9 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond struggles in that department as they've been averaging 36 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Pana was able to grind out a solid victory over Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond in their previous matchup back in February of 2019, winning 57-50. Does Pana have another victory up their sleeve, or will Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
