Basketball Game Preview: Normal West Wildcats vs. East Peoria Raiders

The Normal West Wildcats will venture away from home to take on the East Peoria Raiders at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Last Saturday, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Normal West beat El Paso-Gridley 53-49. The win was all the more spectacular given the Wildcats' disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 363rd, while the Titans are ranked 133rd).

Maliq Givens-Smith

Rebounds

02/01/25 vs El Paso-Gridley	10
01/31/25 vs Peoria	4
01/25/25 @ Pontiac	4
01/23/25 vs Bloomington	5
01/20/25 vs Lake Forest Academy	2
+ 15 more games

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Normal West to victory, but perhaps none more so than Maliq Givens-Smith, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and ten boards. That's the most rebounds Givens-Smith has posted since back in December of 2024. Michael Zaleski was another key player, putting up 15 points and five boards.

Normal West was working as a unit and finished the game with 16 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.

Meanwhile, East Peoria entered their tilt with Morton on Saturday with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past the Potters 72-69.

Normal West is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 7-16 record this season. As for East Peoria, their record is now 19-7.

Everything went Normal West's way against East Peoria in their previous matchup back in February of 2024, as Normal West made off with a 57-34 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Normal West since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.