If the Litchfield Purple Panthers were riding high off their 47-26 takedown of the Nokomis Redskins last Saturday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. Litchfield fell just short of Calvary by a score of 58-55. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
Despite the loss, Litchfield still got an impressive performance from Aj Odle, who scored 24 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Odle has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Ethan Saathoff, who scored nine points.
Litchfield struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only four offensive rebounds. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Calvary pulled down 12 offensive rebounds.
Calvary found their leader in underclassman Luke Blackford, who dropped a double-double on 22 points and 11 rebounds. Blackford hasn't dropped below two steals for six straight games. Another player making a difference was Connor Brown, who scored 12 points along with seven rebounds and five assists.
Litchfield has traveled a rocky road recently, as they've lost three of their last four matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 15-10 record this season. As for Calvary, the win makes it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 16-6.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Litchfield will take on Carlinville at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Hopefully Carlinville focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 13 on Tuesday. As for Calvary, they will be playing at home against Lutheran at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Lutheran 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 522nd, while Calvary is ranked 191st).
