Basketball Recap: Brian Harper's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Rockford East over Normal Community

Rockford East lost against Normal Community back in January of 2024 and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Monday. The Rockford East E-Rabs fell to the Normal Community Ironmen 65-60. While losing is never fun, the E-Rabs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 213th, while the Ironmen are ranked 52nd).

Rockford East's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Brian Harper, who went 6 of 15 on his way to 19 points and five assists. The contest was Harper's third in a row with at least ten points. Sterling Hoarde was another key player, almost dropping a double-double on 14 points and nine boards.

Rockford East's record is now 11-10. As for Normal Community, they have been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a nice bump to their 14-4 record this season.

Rockford East didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next game, a 59-56 defeat against Wheaton-Warrenville South on the 20th. Normal Community has also already played their next contest (against Manual), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing.