Basketball Game Preview: Illinois Valley Cougars vs. Gold Beach Panthers

Illinois Valley and Gold Beach are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2018, but not for long. A feisty cat fight is on tap when the Illinois Valley Cougars duke it out with the Gold Beach Panthers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Illinois Valley will head into Tuesday's match on the come-up: they were handed a heart-breaking two-point loss in their last contest, but they sure didn't let that happen against Bandon on Tuesday. Illinois Valley was the clear victor by a 67-47 margin over Bandon. The Cougars have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six games by 20 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, Gold Beach had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 7 points) and they went ahead and made it six on Wednesday. They came out on top against Pacific by a score of 44-32.

The win snapped Illinois Valley's losing streak at three games and leaves them with a 9-6 record. As for Gold Beach, their victory bumped their record up to 9-3.

Illinois Valley strolled past Gold Beach in their previous matchup back in January of 2024 by a score of 76-61. The rematch might be a little tougher for Illinois Valley since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.