The Red Bud Musketeers will head out on the road to face off against the Chester Yellowjackets at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Red Bud has five straight wins, the Yellowjackets have four straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Even though Red Bud has not done well against the Bulldogs recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), they didn't let the past get in their way on Monday. Red Bud walked away with a 40-33 win over the Bulldogs. Given Red Bud's advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 241st, while the Bulldogs are ranked 554th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Lyla Hess went supernova for Red Bud, scoring 22 points. Hess is trending in the right direction, as she's improved her point production for three games straight. Another player making a difference was Emma Carter, who scored two points along with ten rebounds and two blocks.
Meanwhile, Chester came up short against the Warriors on Monday and fell 44-31. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Chester in their matchups with the Warriors: they've now lost eight in a row.
Chester's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Lexie Mott, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Rylie Conley who scored nine points along with three steals.
Red Bud has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 19-7 record this season. As for Chester, their defeat was their seventh straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 13-14.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Red Bud have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 30.8 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Chester struggles in that department as they've been averaging 27.7 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything came up roses for Red Bud against the Yellowjackets when the teams last played back in January as the squad secured a 64-34 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Red Bud since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
