Illiana Christian and Chicago Christian are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2015, but not for long. The Illiana Christian Vikings will venture away from home to square off against the Chicago Christian Knights at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Chicago Christian took a loss in their last match and will be looking to turn the tables on Illiana Christian, who comes in off a win.
Two weeks ago, everything went Illiana Christian's way against Bowman Academy as Illiana Christian made off with a 43-20 victory.
| 11/14/23 vs Portage | 10 |
| 12/21/24 vs Bowman Academy | 9 |
| 11/19/24 @ Portage | 7 |
| 11/18/24 @ Wheeler | 7 |
| 01/08/24 vs Hammond Bishop Noll | 7 |
Illiana Christian can attribute much of their success to Kennedy Voss, who posted nine points and eight rebounds. That's the most points Voss has posted since back in December of 2023. Another player making a difference was Aubrey Van Beek, who earned six points and eight rebounds.
Illiana Christian smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 12 consecutive games.
Meanwhile, after a string of three wins, Chicago Christian's good fortune finally ran out on Saturday. They fell 52-43 to Manteno. While losing is never fun, the Knights can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 474th, while the Panthers are ranked 143rd).
Illiana Christian will need focus on slowing down Sydney Harris, one of several Chicago Christian players who made an impact when they last played. She put up five points and 14 rebounds. Harris is on a roll when it comes to rebounds, as she's now pulled down ten or more in the last three games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Madison Dodd, who posted nine points.
Chicago Christian's loss ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 6-9. As for Illiana Christian, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a nice bump to their 6-6 record this season.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Illiana Christian has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 36.3 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Chicago Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 30.7 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Illiana Christian was able to grind out a solid win over Chicago Christian in their previous matchup back in November of 2022, winning 37-30. The rematch might be a little tougher for Illiana Christian since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
