The North Newton Spartans will take on the Illiana Christian Vikings at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Illiana Christian took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on North Newton, who comes in off a win.
It may have taken overtime to finish the job, but North Newton ultimately got the result they hoped for on Friday. They slipped by Clinton Prairie 37-36. The victory was all the more spectacular given North Newton's disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 360th, while Clinton Prairie is ranked 105th).
Evan Gagnon was his usual excellent self, almost dropping a double-double on 17 points and nine steals. That makes it seven consecutive games in which he has scored at least a third of North Newton's points. Joe Stalewski was another key contributor, scoring seven points along with five rebounds.
Meanwhile, Illiana Christian pushed their score all the way to 64 on Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a 78-64 bruising from Hanover Central. Illiana Christian has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
North Newton now has a winning record of 12-11. As for Illiana Christian, their loss dropped their record down to 14-9.
North Newton came up short against Illiana Christian in their previous meeting back in March of 2023, falling 59-54. Thankfully for North Newton, Luke VanEssen (who scored 17 points along with seven rebounds and five assists) 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