Basketball Game Preview: Kankakee Kays vs. Nazareth Academy Roadrunners

The Kankakee Kays will head out on the road to take on the Nazareth Academy Roadrunners at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Kankakee is headed into the game after thoroughly thrashing Crete-Monee: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Kankakee blew Crete-Monee out of the water with a 49-15 final score. The Kays have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 12 contests by 20 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, Nazareth Academy entered their tilt with Marist on Saturday with 17 consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with 18. They took down the RedHawks 72-58. Given the Roadrunners' advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked fifth, while the RedHawks are ranked 38th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Nazareth Academy's win was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 26-2. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 64.2 points over those games. As for Kankakee, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 17-11.

Kankakee might still be hurting after the 61-39 loss they got from Nazareth Academy in their previous meeting back in February of 2024. That matchup was all but decided by halftime, at which point Kankakee was down 32-12.