The Boylan Catholic Titans came tearing into Friday's game with eight straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 14.8 points) and they left with even more momentum. They walked away with a 47-39 win over Marian Central Catholic. That result was just more of the same for these two, as Boylan Catholic also won the last time the pair played back in December of 2022.
Lilian Esparza continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a double-double on 29 points and 13 rebounds. The contest was her 17th in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Alayna Petalber, who scored nine points.
Despite the loss, Marian Central Catholic still got an impressive performance from Madison Kenyon, who scored 12 points along with seven steals and five rebounds. Kenyon scored a full 30.8% of Marian Central Catholic's points, the third time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Juliette Huff, who scored ten points.
Boylan Catholic's victory was their 17th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 15-2. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 58.7 points per game. As for Marian Central Catholic, their loss ended a 11-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 15-4.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Boylan Catholic has the luxury of staying home another game and will welcome Rockford East at 6:30 p.m. on January 5th. Rockford East has now lost ten straight, and the team is hunting for their first win since November 17. As for Marian Central Catholic, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Genoa-Kingston at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Genoa-Kingston will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Illinois Rankings (they are ranked 457th, while Marian Central Catholic is ranked 66th).
