If the Mater Dei Knights were feeling good off their 65-45 takedown of the Riverview Gardens Rams on Wednesday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. Mater Dei fell just short of Red Bay by a score of 55-52. While losing is never fun, Mater Dei can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps's basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 206th in Illinois, while Red Bay is ranked 88th in Alabama).
Mater Dei lost on Thursday despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Drake Wagner, who scored 14 points along with five steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Nick Lampe, who scored 15 points.
Mater Dei's defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 6-8. As for Red Bay, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 10-4 record this season.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Mater Dei won't have much time to rest: their next matchup is against Orchard Farm at 5:30 p.m. on December 29th. As for Red Bay, they will be playing at home against Lamar County at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.