Roxana hasn't had much luck against Marquette Catholic recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Roxana Shells will face off against the Marquette Catholic Explorers at 6:00 p.m. Neither of those teams managed to put together many points in their previous contests, so the offenses might be a little more motivated than usual.
Roxana is headed into the game out to prove that what happened against Taylorville on Tuesday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Roxana came up short against Taylorville, falling 53-29.
Despite their loss, Roxana saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Jake Newton, who posted eight points and eight boards, was perhaps the best of all. Another player making a difference was Sean Maberry, who earned eight points along with six rebounds and three blocks.
Even though they lost, Roxana smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in five consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Marquette Catholic suffered their biggest defeat since January 10, 2024 on Tuesday. They were dealt a 45-15 loss at the hands of Triad. While losing is never fun, the Explorers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 372nd, while the Knights are ranked 63rd).
Roxana's defeat dropped their record down to 8-11. As for Marquette Catholic, they moved to 9-11 with that loss, which also ended their three-game winning streak.
Roxana was able to grind out a solid win over Marquette Catholic when the teams last played back in December of 2024, winning 48-37. The rematch might be a little tougher for Roxana since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
