The Champaign Central Maroons will head out on the road to square off against the Peoria Notre Dame Irish at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Champaign Central is no doubt hoping to put an end to a seven-game streak of away losses.
Champaign Central pushed their score all the way to 57 on Tuesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a 61-57 hit to the loss column at the hands of Centennial. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Champaign Central in their matchups with Centennial: they've now lost nine in a row.
Despite the loss, Champaign Central had strong showings from Chris Bush, who scored 23 points, and Aidyn Beck, who scored 11 points along with five steals. Luke Swanson was another key contributor, scoring nine points.
Meanwhile, Peoria Notre Dame came up short against Breese Central on Saturday and fell 47-34. While losing is never fun, Peoria Notre Dame can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 185th, while Breese Central is ranked 19th).
Champaign Central has not been sharp recently as the team's lost ten of their last 12 matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 10-16 record this season. As for Peoria Notre Dame, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 10-15.
Champaign Central suffered a grim 67-46 defeat to Peoria Notre Dame in their previous meeting back in February of 2023. Can Champaign Central avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
