Two dominant forwards in Jurrel Buford and Yahweh Anderson are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Rowe-Clark Masai Lions will be home for the holidays to greet the Rauner Wildcats at 5:00 p.m. on Friday.
Rowe-Clark pushed their score all the way to 61 on Tuesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They suffered a tough 83-61 defeat at the hands of Hansberry. While losing is never fun, Rowe-Clark can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 712th, while Hansberry is ranked 298th).
Despite the defeat, Rowe-Clark saw an underclassman step up: Arnez Jones dropped a double-double on 23 points and 12 rebounds. Jones scored a full 37.7% of Rowe-Clark's points, the third time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Marcus Fossett, who scored 11 points along with three steals.
Even though they lost, Rowe-Clark were working as a unit and finished the game with 11 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Rauner strolled past UIC College Prep with points to spare on Wednesday, taking the game 49-32. The victory was just what Rauner needed coming off of a 69-41 loss in their prior matchup.
Rowe-Clark's loss was their tenth straight on the road dating back to last season, which bumped their record down to 2-6. As for Rauner, their victory bumped their record up to 5-2.
Things could have been worse for Rowe-Clark, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 51-36 loss to Rauner when the teams last played back in February of 2022. Can Rowe-Clark avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
