Manteno is 0-3 against Watseka since November of 2016 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Manteno Panthers will take on the Watseka Warriors at 6:00 p.m. Hopefully Manteno focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 45 on Thursday.
With a playoff game on the line, Manteno rose to the challenge on Thursday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against the Coalers and snuck past 30-27. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win Manteno has posted against Coal City since January 20, 2022.
Manteno found their leader in underclassman Maddie Gesky, who scored seven points along with 18 rebounds and two blocks. Gesky hasn't dropped below 11 rebounds for seven straight games. Another player making a difference was Annabella Gigliello, who scored four points along with seven rebounds.
Meanwhile, Watseka had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 28.5 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Thursday. They strolled past St. Thomas More with points to spare, taking the game 43-27.
Manteno is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last ten contests, which provided a massive bump to their 18-12 record this season. As for Watseka, their victory bumped their record up to 26-4.
Manteno and Watseka were neck-and-neck in their previous meeting back in January, but Manteno came up empty-handed after a 47-46 defeat. Can Manteno avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
