Basketball Game Preview: Oak Forest Bengals vs. Hillcrest Hawks

Oak Forest is 0-10 against Hillcrest since February of 2015 but things could change on Tuesday. The Oak Forest Bengals will venture away from home to challenge the Hillcrest Hawks at 6:30 p.m. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Oak Forest is headed into Tuesday's contest looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their fifth straight game on Monday. They were four points away from ending the streak, but they lost a 62-58 heartbreaker at the hands of Agricultural Science.

Homewood-Flossmoor typically has all the answers at home, but on Saturday Hillcrest proved too difficult a challenge. They managed a 69-63 win over the Vikings. The victory was all the more spectacular given the Hawks' disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 85th, while the Vikings are ranked eighth).

Hillcrest has been performing well recently as they've won six of their last eight matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 18-10 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 69.1 points over those games. As for Oak Forest, their loss dropped their record down to 14-14.

Oak Forest came up short against Hillcrest when the teams last played back in January of 2024, falling 55-48. Can Oak Forest avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.