Putnam County and the Crusaders are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2019, but not for long. The Putnam County Panthers will be playing at home against the Marquette Crusaders at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. The timing isn't great for Putnam County: they have been struggling with three straight losses at home, while the Crusaders have snatched up five consecutive wins on the road.
Last Monday, it was a hard-fought contest, but Putnam County had to settle for a 55-53 loss against the Red Devils.
Meanwhile, Marquette put the finishing touches on their eighth blowout victory of the season on Friday. They put the hurt on Henry-Senachwine with a sharp 65-41 win. Given Marquette's advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 281st, while the Mallards are ranked 568th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Putnam County has been struggling recently as they've lost 12 of their last 14 matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-20 record this season. As for Marquette, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won ten of their last 11 games, which provided a massive bump to their 17-7 record this season.
Putnam County ended up a good deal behind the Crusaders when the teams last played last Tuesday, losing 60-44. Can Putnam County avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
