Basketball Game Preview: O'Fallon Panthers vs. Belleville East Lancers

O'Fallon has gone 10-0 against Belleville East recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The O'Fallon Panthers will be playing in front of their home fans against the Belleville East Lancers at 7:30 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Last Tuesday, O'Fallon didn't have too much trouble with East St. Louis as they won 71-55. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 26th, while the Flyers are ranked 379th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

O'Fallon's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Haeli Tart, who went 10 for 11 on her way to 22 points in addition to six boards and five steals, and Josie Christopher, who went 9 of 11 en route to 20 points along with eight assists and three steals. With that strong performance, Tart is now averaging an impressive 15.1 points per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Nakia McCottrell, who posted six points.

Meanwhile, Belleville East came tearing into Tuesday's game with five straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 19.4 points) and they left with even more momentum. They blew past the Maroons, posting a 57-23 victory. The Lancers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 16 matches by 20 points or more this season.

O'Fallon is also on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last 11 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 18-8 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 58.5 points per game. As for Belleville East, they pushed their record up to 18-8 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home.

O'Fallon beat Belleville East 65-52 in their previous meeting back in January. Will O'Fallon repeat their success, or does Belleville East have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.