The Salem Wildcats lost against the Centralia Orphans back in February of 2023, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Friday. Salem took a 53-41 hit to the loss column at the hands of Centralia. While losing is never fun, Salem can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 285th, while Centralia is ranked 20th).
Several Wildcats players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Gavin Zimmermann, who scored 15 points. Connor Tennyson was another key contributor, scoring 14 points.
Salem's defeat dropped their record down to 8-14. As for Centralia, the win (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 21-1.
Salem won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Mt. Vernon at 6:00 p.m. on January 20th. Mt. Vernon is strutting with some offensive muscle, as they've averaged 52.9 points per game. Centralia won't have much time to rest: their next match is against East St. Louis at 7:30 p.m. on January 20th. East St. Louis knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past seven contests -- so hopefully Centralia likes a good challenge.
