Basketball Game Preview: Streator Bulldogs vs. Ottawa Pirates

The Streator Bulldogs and the Ottawa Pirates will face off at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday without much rest, having both just played. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Streator has three straight wins, Ottawa has five straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Streator is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They claimed a resounding 71-33 victory over Lisle. Given the Bulldogs' advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 129th, while the Lions are ranked 604th), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Ottawa came up short against Sycamore on Friday and fell 51-42.

Streator pushed their record up to 22-5 with the win, which was their sixth straight at home. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 58.5 points over those games. As for Ottawa, their defeat dropped their record down to 9-15.

Things could have been worse for Streator, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 54-38 loss to Ottawa in their previous matchup back in November of 2024. Will Streator have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.