Basketball Game Preview: New Athens Yellow Jackets vs. Marissa/Coulterville Meteors

New Athens hasn't had much luck against Marissa/Coulterville recently, but that could start to change on Monday. The New Athens Yellow Jackets will look to defend their home court against the Marissa/Coulterville Meteors at 6:00 p.m. New Athens has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last four games.

New Athens fought the good fight in their overtime game against Steeleville on Thursday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They took a 55-50 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Warriors. While the Yellow Jackets didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Warriors 18-12 in the first quarter.

Despite the defeat, New Athens had strong showings from Mallory Kohnen, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and ten rebounds, and Brooke Deterding, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 11 boards. The dominant performance also gave Kohnen a new career-high in blocks (four).

Even though they lost, New Athens smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive boards in four consecutive matches.

Meanwhile, Marissa/Coulterville fought the good fight in their overtime contest against Columbia on Saturday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell to the Eagles 58-52. The Meteors' loss signaled the end of their seven-game winning streak.

Marissa/Coulterville's defeat ended a six-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 14-7. As for New Athens, their loss dropped their record down to 3-14.

New Athens was taken down by Marissa/Coulterville 60-20 in their previous meeting back in January. That game was all but decided by halftime, at which point New Athens was down 30-5.