Basketball Game Preview: Kankakee Valley Kougars vs. Illiana Christian Vikings

The Kankakee Valley Kougars will take on the Illiana Christian Vikings at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Kankakee Valley is coming into the contest on a three-game losing streak.

Last Thursday, Kankakee Valley was just a bucket shy of victory and fell 48-47 to North Judson-San Pierre. While losing is never fun, the Kougars can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 234th, while the Bluejays are ranked 108th).

Kankakee Valley's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Jenna Walker, who went 6 for 14 on her way to 16 points and seven rebounds, and Camry Krueger, who posted 12 points and five steals. Those five steals gave Krueger a new career-high.

Even though they lost, Kankakee Valley smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 11 consecutive matches.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Illiana Christian). They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 76-74 win over Hammond Bishop Noll on Monday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Vikings.

Kankakee Valley's loss dropped their record down to 5-11. As for Illiana Christian, they now have a winning record of 8-7.