The Salem Wildcats will face off against the Mater Dei Knights at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Having struggled with three defeats in a row, Salem turned things around against DuQuoin on Saturday. They walked away with a 59-49 win over the Indians.
Meanwhile, Mater Dei had already won four in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 13 points) and they went ahead and made it five on Saturday. They enjoyed a cozy 66-48 victory over the Titans. Given the Knights' advantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 97th in Illinois, while the Titans are ranked 226th in Missouri), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Mater Dei has also been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 13 of their last 15 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 18-8 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 54.5 points per game. As for Salem, their win bumped their record up to 6-18.
Salem ended up a good deal behind Mater Dei when the teams last played back in January of 2024, losing 62-43. Thankfully for Salem, Drake Wagner (who went 7 for 13 on his way to 25 points) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
