The Novinger Wildcats were the 70-51 winner over the Meadville Eagles when they last played one another back in February of 2023, but their luck changed this time around. Novinger took a 62-50 hit to the loss column at the hands of Meadville on Friday.
Gauge Shiflett was his usual excellent self, dropping a double-double on 19 points and ten rebounds for Meadville. Shiflett has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last three times he's played. Mason Dennis was another key contributor, scoring 13 points along with six rebounds.
Novinger's defeat was their 12th straight on the road dating back to last season, which dropped their record down to 3-11. As for Meadville, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 10-10 record this season.
Novinger will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on La Plata at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are closely ranked in Missouri (Novinger is ranked 509th, while La Plata is ranked 486th). As for Meadville, they will head out on the road to face off against Bucklin-Macon County at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Meadville focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up nine on Friday.
