This is the last time the Wildcats defeated the Ironmen in girls basketball.

However, in the midst of a nearly five-year losing streak, the Wildcats are eager to get a victory tonight when they take on the Ironmen at Normal Community High School. 

Wildcat Head coach, Corey Ostling, is confident in the Wildcats chances of getting a victory.

Ostling acknowledges the talent that the Ironmen have, but he believes that his Wildcats have the necessary drive and mindset to compete with their talented opponent.

“[The Ironmen are] deep and talented again this year; there’s no doubt about it. I think the biggest thing that we have going for us this year is we are a very competitive team and we’re young and hungry, and so, I think a big part of it is just coming in with the right mindset of the game that believes that you can win,” Ostling mentioned. 

Winning against a bigger team with deep talent like Community is not going to be easy, and Ostling believes the biggest keys to winning are taking care of the ball, and staying locked in on the defensive end. 

“I think they’re going to try to turn us over, and if we get into that, then it’s going to be a long night for us. If we take care of the ball I like our chances. I think our defense is usually what keeps us in games. It’s just we got to make sure we take care of the ball,” Ostling said. 

Ostling continued to stress the importance of the Wildcats defense as he added that, “our defense has to become our offense. We have to get stops and then push in transition, and ideally force them to turn the ball over a little bit, [and Community] usually take really good care of the ball.

“They’re extremely well-coached, but we have to make them uncomfortable. If they get to do everything they want to do then it’s going to be a long night for us.”

The Wildcats will be going into this game heavily undersized against a bigger Ironmen squad as “they’re probably bigger and stronger every single position than us,” Ostling noted,

“But I think we do have some tenacious basketball players, and we just got to play with more heart than them. That’s really what it comes down to, we[‘ve] got to box out every single possession because they’re going to be bigger and we just got to be more physical than them.”

Usually West vs Community in any sport, is an incredibly packed environment, but Ostling believes that this shouldn’t be a huge problem for the Wildcats, as they have already played in lots of big games this season. 

“The nice part is we have played several state bound teams this year. we’ve played the ‘Washingtons,’ we played the ‘Mortons’, and we recently played Galesburg. We played in the [State Farm Holiday] Classic. We played in intercity tournament at the Shirk [Center] this year, and so, I do think we’re a little more battle-tested than maybe some teams in the past, but the environment can either make or break some kids,” Ostling said. 

Senior guard Dajeana Smith, discussed the preparation the Wildcats have done before the game mentioning that, “we have been watching sets and making sure we execute on the defensive end.”

Smith also said that, “we’re gonna need to rebound and keep our pressure on the defensive end high and play with high energy.”

The Wildcats take on the Ironmen tonight (February 6th) at 7:30 PM at Normal Community.