Basketball Recap: Kaden Scheppleman's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Dupo over Southwestern

Dupo was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their 29th straight defeat dating back to last season. They fell 56-49 to the Southwestern Piasa Birds. While losing is never fun, the Tigers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 730th, while the Piasa Birds are ranked 242nd).

Several Tigers players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Kaden Scheppleman, who posted 27 points. With that strong performance, Scheppleman is now averaging an impressive 15.6 points per game. Deegan Prater was another key player, putting up 15 points.

Ryan Lowis went supernova for Southwestern, going 8 of 14 on his way to 23 points and four steals. That's the most points Lowis has posted since back in November of 2023. The team also got some help courtesy of Logan Custer, who put up 12 points and six rebounds.

Dupo's loss dropped their record down to 0-6. As for Southwestern, they now have a winning record of 8-7.

Dupo will have a little extra prep time after the defeat as they won't be playing again for a while. They'll take on First Baptist Academy at 7:00 p.m. on January 7, 2025. As for Southwestern, they wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next contest, a 66-63 loss against Valmeyer on the 27th.