Basketball Game Preview: Mater Dei Knights vs. Central/Southeastern Panthers

The Mater Dei Knights will face off against the Central/Southeastern Panthers at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Last Sunday, Mater Dei was able to grind out a solid win over Belleville East, taking the game 54-47. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Knights.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Mater Dei to victory, but perhaps none more so than Amelia Beer, who posted 17 points along with seven boards and three steals. The dominant performance gave Beer a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Maris Zurliene, who almost dropped a double-double on 15 points and nine boards.

Meanwhile, Central/Southeastern entered their tilt with Bloomington Central Catholic on Monday with six consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with seven. They claimed a resounding 62-35 victory over the Saints. The Panthers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won ten contests by 23 points or more this season.

Central/Southeastern has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 11 of their last 12 games, which provided a nice bump to their 15-2 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.5 points per game. As for Mater Dei, their win bumped their record up to 12-4.

Mater Dei strolled past Central/Southeastern in their previous meeting back in November of 2024 by a score of 56-37. Will Mater Dei repeat their success, or does Central/Southeastern have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.