Basketball Game Preview: Proviso East Pirates vs. Shepard Astros

After both having extra time off, the Proviso East Pirates and the Shepard Astros will dust off their jerseys to face off against one another at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

While Proviso East didn't have the best season last year (they finished 10-18), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 30-27 victory over Joliet Central last Saturday.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Proviso East to victory, but perhaps none more so than Zulema Montoya, who posted seven points and 12 rebounds. Those 12 rebounds gave Montoya a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Ava Kimble, who put up 15 points.

Meanwhile, Shepard had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 13 points) and they went ahead and made it three last Saturday. They secured a 35-30 W over the Wolverines.

Proviso East's win bumped their record up to 8-6. As for Shepard, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 5-3 record this season.