The Manteno Panthers will face off against the Grant Park Dragons at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Manteno will be strutting in after a victory while Grant Park will be coming in after a defeat.
Grant Park will be up against a hot Manteno team: the squad just extended their winning streak to three. Manteno blew past Momence 66-45 on Wednesday. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 304th, while the Momence Athletics are ranked 638th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, Grant Park came up short against Reed-Custer on Wednesday, falling 65-40. The Dragons haven't had much luck with the Comets recently, as the team's come up short the last two times they've met.
Manteno has been performing well recently as they've won nine of their last 12 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 15-9 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 57.1 points per game. As for Grant Park, their loss dropped their record down to 8-14.
Manteno strolled past Grant Park when the teams last played back in January of 2024 by a score of 60-44. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Grant Park's Blake Brown, who went 10 for 18 on his way to 25 points in addition to five rebounds and four steals. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Manteno still be able to contain Brown? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
