The Oswego Panthers will square off against the Metea Valley Mustangs at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Oswego is probably headed into the contest with a chip on their shoulder considering Plainfield North just ended the team's three-game winning streak on Thursday. They were beaten by the Tigers 64-37. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 238th, while the Tigers are ranked 82nd).
Meanwhile, Metea Valley hadn't done well against Neuqua Valley recently (they were 0-9 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Thursday. Metea Valley walked away with a 43-36 victory over Neuqua Valley. The score was all tied up 14-14 at the break, but the Mustangs were the better team in the second half.
Metea Valley's win came from a few key players Oswego will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Jailyn Cutts, who posted 12 points. Another player making a difference was Arainna Hammons, who scored ten points.
Oswego's loss dropped their record down to 13-13. As for Metea Valley, their win was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-6 and their overall record up to 7-17.
Oswego strolled past Metea Valley in their previous meeting back in February of 2024 by a score of 54-40. Will Oswego repeat their success, or does Metea Valley have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
