Wilmington entered their contest against Manteno on Thursday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. The Wilmington Wildcats fell 49-37 to the Manteno Panthers. Sadly, that's the second time they've come up short against the Wildcats this season, as they also lost their prior matchup 27-17 back in December of 2024.
| 01/23/25 vs Manteno | 4 |
| 01/22/25 @ Gardner-South Wilmington | 8 |
| 01/16/25 @ Reed-Custer | 8 |
| 01/14/25 vs Beecher | 5 |
| 01/13/25 @ Streator | 2 |
Sami Liaromatis and Nina Egizio certainly did their best on Thursday to avoid the loss. Liaromatis went 8 of 19 en route to 21 points along with seven boards and four steals, while Egizio posted six points and three steals. Liaromatis is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last 11 games she's played.
Even though they lost, Wilmington smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive rebounds in four consecutive games.
Manteno found their leader in sophomore Maddie Gesky, who dropped a double-double on 20 points and 19 rebounds. What's more, Gesky also racked up five steals, the most she's had since back in February of 2024. Emily Horath was another key player, almost dropping a double-double on 14 points and nine boards.
Wilmington's loss ended a six-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 17-5. As for Manteno, they moved to 17-4 with that victory, which also ended their three-game losing streak.
Wilmington has already played their next match (against Herscher), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing. Manteno has already played their next contest, a 48-29 win against Reed-Custer on the 27th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
