Basketball Game Preview: River Forest Ingots vs. Kankakee Valley Kougars

The River Forest Ingots will face off against the Kankakee Valley Kougars at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in River Forest's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last four matches.

Last Thursday, everything came up roses for River Forest against Oregon-Davis as the team secured a 66-36 victory. The Ingots have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won ten games by 21 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, Kankakee Valley can bid farewell to their three-game losing streak thanks to their game on Friday. They enjoyed a cozy 50-31 win over North Judson-San Pierre. The Kougars pushed the score to 45-17 by the end of the third, a deficit the Bluejays cut but never quite recovered from.

River Forest better keep an eye on Brady Sampson. He was instrumental in Kankakee Valley's win, dropping a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Sampson has become a key player for Kankakee Valley: the team is undefeated when he posts at least ten boards, but 9-11 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Brodie Ellenwood, who posted nine points.

River Forest has been performing well recently as they've won ten of their last 12 contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 16-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 61.9 points over those games. Kankakee Valley now has a winning record of 12-11.

River Forest came up short against Kankakee Valley in their previous meeting back in January, falling 58-46. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Sampson, who dropped a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Now that River Forest knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.