The Manteno Panthers and the Clifton Central Comets will face off at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday without much rest having both just played. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
On Monday, Manteno strolled past Reed-Custer with points to spare, taking the game 48-29. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 216th, while the Comets are ranked 480th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, Clifton Central came tearing into Monday's contest with five straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 23.6 points) and they left with even more momentum. They blew past the Panthers 63-19. The Comets have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight games by 23 points or more this season.
Clifton Central has also been performing incredibly well recently as they've won ten of their last 11 matches, which provided a massive bump to their 16-7 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 50.6 points per game. As for Manteno, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 18-4.
Manteno came out on top in a nail-biter against Clifton Central when the teams last played back in January of 2023, sneaking past 48-46. Will Manteno repeat their success, or does Clifton Central have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
