Metro-East Lutheran hasn't had much luck against Collinsville recently, but that could start to change on Tuesday. The Metro-East Lutheran Knights will head out on the road to challenge the Collinsville Kahoks at 7:30 p.m. Metro-East Lutheran is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 53.2 points per game this season.
Metro-East Lutheran is headed into Tuesday's game looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their third straight game on Wednesday. The contest between them and Mater Dei didn't end well, with Metro-East Lutheran falling 47-30. The match marked Metro-East Lutheran's lowest-scoring game so far this season.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Thijson Heard, who posted 12 points. That was a full 40% of Metro-East Lutheran's points, marking the third time in a row he's scored more than a third of the team's points. Junior Brown was another key player, putting up eight points.
Meanwhile, Collinsville came up short against Althoff Catholic on Saturday and fell 66-59. While losing is never fun, the Kahoks can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 138th, while the Crusaders are ranked 27th).
Like Metro-East Lutheran, Collinsville lost despite seeing results from several players. Donovan Coates led the charge by earning 21 points and three steals. The contest was Coates' fifth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jace Wilkinson, who went 7 of 13 on his way to 20 points and five boards.
Even though they lost, Collinsville smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 13 offensive rebounds in three consecutive matchups.
Metro-East Lutheran's loss dropped their record down to 10-8. As for Collinsville, their defeat dropped their record down to 11-11.
Tuesday's game will pit two of the most dominant guards against one another: Heard and Coates. Heard has been dynamite this season: he has averaged 19 points on 62.5% shooting. For his part, Coates has averaged 19.4 points and 4.8 rebounds.
Metro-East Lutheran was dealt a bruising 68-33 loss at the hands of Collinsville in their previous meeting back in December of 2023. Can Metro-East Lutheran avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
