Even though the Gardner-South Wilmington Panthers scored an imposing 58 points on Tuesday, the Clifton Central Comets still came out on top. Clifton Central sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 61-58 victory over Gardner-South Wilmington. Given Clifton Central's advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 243rd, while Gardner-South Wilmington is ranked 541st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Clifton Central was led to victory by Blake Chandler and Aidan Podowicz. Chandler scored 17 points along with 6 rebounds, while Podowicz scored 13 points along with 6 steals. Podowicz is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now stole two or more in the last four games he's played. Another player making a difference was Peyton Chandler, who scored 8 points along with 7 rebounds.
Clifton Central pushed their record up to 5-1 with that victory, which was their fourth straight at home. As for Gardner-South Wilmington, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 2-6.
Clifton Central will be playing in front of their home fans against Tri-Point at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Tri-Point is coming into the match on a three-game losing streak. As for Gardner-South Wilmington, they will head out on the road to face off against Momence at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
