The Mascoutah Indians's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Thursday after their eighth straight loss. They lost to Mt. Vernon at home by a decisive 70-54 margin. While losing is never fun, Mascoutah can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 425th, while Mt. Vernon is ranked 56th).
Mt. Vernon was led to victory by Melaina Zedalis and Kamaree Pollard. Zedalis scored 20 points along with six rebounds and three steals, while Pollard scored 14 points along with nine assists and six steals. The match was Zedalis' 11th in a row with at least ten points. Tiara Johnson was another key contributor, scoring 12 points along with four steals.
Mascoutah's loss was their fifth straight at home, which bumped their record down to 2-10. As for Mt. Vernon, the win (which was their seventh in a row) raised their record to 11-2.
Mascoutah will wrap up 2023 with a road trip to face off against East St. Louis at 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday. East St. Louis has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games. Mt. Vernon's road trip will continue as they head out to face DuQuoin at 6:00 p.m. on December 27th. DuQuoin knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past three matchups -- so hopefully Mt. Vernon likes a good challenge.
