The Southwestern Piasa Birds will take on the Carlinville Cavaliers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
Last Tuesday, Southwestern lost to Staunton on the road by a 48-30 margin. While losing is never fun, the Piasa Birds can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 321st, while the Bulldogs are ranked 136th).
Southwestern's loss came about despite a quality game from Ryan Lowis, who posted ten points and five rebounds.
Meanwhile, Carlinville didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Maryville Christian on Thursday, but they still walked away with a 37-31 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Cavaliers.
Carlinville's win came from a few key players Southwestern will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Tate Duckels, who had 11 points along with seven boards and three steals. He has become a key player for Carlinville: the team is undefeated when he posts at least three steals, but 4-15 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Dominic Alepra, who scored 12 points and three steals.
Carlinville's win bumped their record up to 13-15. As for Southwestern, their defeat dropped their record down to 15-12.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Southwestern has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 24 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Carlinville struggles in that department as they've been averaging 23.8 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Southwestern strolled past Carlinville when the teams last played back in January by a score of 46-28. Will Southwestern repeat their success, or does Carlinville have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
