Basketball Game Preview: Beardstown Tigers vs. West Central co-op [Winchester-Bluffs] Cougars

Beardstown is 1-9 against West Central co-op [Winchester-Bluffs] since January of 2016 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. A feisty cat fight will be fought when the Tigers face off against the Cougars at 6:00 p.m. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Last Monday, Beardstown earned a 44-33 victory over Williamsville.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask West Central co-op [Winchester-Bluffs]). They took down Astoria/VIT 69-50 on Monday. Given the Cougars' advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 280th, while the Rebels are ranked 603rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

West Central co-op [Winchester-Bluffs]'s win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 15-14. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 52.0 points over those games. As for Beardstown, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 14-16 record this season.

Beardstown couldn't quite finish off West Central co-op [Winchester-Bluffs] when the teams last played back in February of 2024 and fell 53-50. Will Beardstown have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.