The Meridian Bobcats will face off against the Columbia Eagles at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Meridian knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past 14 matchups -- so hopefully Columbia likes a good challenge.
Last Saturday, Meridian came up short against Centralia and fell 69-60. While losing is never fun, the Bobcats can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 205th, while the Orphans are ranked 23rd).
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Columbia, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Saturday. They took their contest on Monday with ease, bagging a 68-38 win over Freeburg. The Eagles have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 13 games by 23 points or more this season.
Columbia's win came from a few key players Meridian will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Eddie Smajic, who posted 22 points. Sam Donald was another key player, putting up 18 points.
Columbia is on a roll lately: they've won 12 of their last 14 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 23-6 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 64.6 points over those games. As for Meridian, their loss dropped their record down to 22-7.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
