Basketball Game Preview: Belvidere Bucs vs. North Boone Vikings

Belvidere is 4-0 against North Boone since November of 2019 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Monday. The Belvidere Bucs will challenge the North Boone Vikings at 7:00 p.m. Belvidere is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 59.8 points per game this season.

Last Friday, Belvidere didn't have too much trouble with Jefferson as they won 80-61. Given the Bucs' advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 218th, while the J-Hawks are ranked 500th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Belvidere can attribute much of their success to Emma Pierson, who went 13 of 22 on her way to 29 points along with six boards and five assists, and Arianna Labeau, who went 10 of 18 en route to 28 points and four steals. Pierson's evening made it nine games in a row in which she has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Kayla Beaudet, who posted 12 points and eight rebounds.

Meanwhile, North Boone came tearing into Saturday's game with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 31.3 points) and they left with even more momentum. They enjoyed a cozy 46-32 win over the Rockets.

North Boone is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a massive bump to their 7-7 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 27.8 points per game. As for Belvidere, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 13-6.

Everything came up roses for Belvidere against North Boone in their previous meeting back in January of 2024, as the team secured a 72-29 win. In that contest, Belvidere amassed a halftime lead of 36-16, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Monday.