The Carbondale Terriers will take on the Marion Wildcats at 7:15 p.m. on Friday.
Carbondale is headed into the matchup having just suffered their biggest defeat since December 27, 2024 on Tuesday. They came up short against Centralia, falling 51-26. The contest marked the Terriers' lowest-scoring game so far this season.
Meanwhile, Marion had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 19.4 points) and they went ahead and made it six on Saturday. They took down the Tigers 66-50. The Wildcats pushed the score to 58-33 by the end of the third, a deficit the Tigers cut but never quite recovered from.
Marion's win came from a few key players Carbondale will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Cameron Curry, who went 7 of 10 on his way to 17 points and five assists. Those 17 points gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Ethan Simmons, who went 5 for 11 en route to 14 points and eight boards.
Marion smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in six consecutive matches.
Marion's victory was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 17-4. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 62.3 points per game. As for Carbondale, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost 13 of their last 16 contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 9-15 record this season.
Things could have been worse for Carbondale, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 61-43 loss to Marion when the teams last played back in December of 2024. Can Carbondale 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
