Basketball Game Preview: Lake Zurich Bears vs. Palatine Pirates

The Lake Zurich Bears will head out on the road to challenge the Palatine Pirates at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Lake Zurich has struggled recently with four losses in a row, while Palatine will arrive with four straight victories.

Last Wednesday, Lake Zurich was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 39-33 to Lake Forest. While losing is never fun, the Bears can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 166th, while the Scouts are ranked 40th).

Meanwhile, Palatine blew past Vernon Hills, posting a 56-29 win.

Palatine pushed their record up to 18-13 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 58.3 points over those games. As for Lake Zurich, their defeat dropped their record down to 13-17.

Lake Zurich strolled past Palatine when the teams last played back in January by a score of 54-40. The rematch might be a little tougher for Lake Zurich since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.