Basketball Game Preview: Kankakee Kays vs. Rock Island Rocks

The Kankakee Kays and the Rock Island Rocks will round out the year against one another at at 12:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.

Kankakee lost 65-44 to Marion on Saturday. While losing is never fun, the Kays can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 161st in Illinois, while the Patriots are ranked 24th in Arkansas).

Meanwhile, Rock Island was not able to break out of their rough patch on Saturday as the team picked up their fifth straight defeat. They were three points away from ending the streak, but they lost a 60-57 heartbreaker at the hands of Bettendorf.

Rock Island now has a losing record at 6-7. As for Kankakee, their loss dropped their record down to 9-4.

Kankakee was able to grind out a solid victory over Rock Island when the teams last played back in December of 2023, winning 33-25. Will Kankakee repeat their success, or does Rock Island have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.