Basketball Game Preview: Kankakee Valley Kougars vs. Lowell Red Devils

The Kankakee Valley Kougars will square off against the Lowell Red Devils at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Lowell took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on Kankakee Valley, who comes in off a win.

Kankakee Valley took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. Everything went their way against Portage as Kankakee Valley made off with a 55-32 victory. The match marked the Kougars' most dominant win of the season.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Kankakee Valley to victory, but perhaps none more so than Camry Krueger, who went 6 of 15 on her way to 16 points in addition to seven assists and five rebounds. That's the most boards Krueger has posted since back in November of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Jenna Walker, who posted 13 points and five rebounds.

Meanwhile, Lowell came up short against Rensselaer Central on Thursday and fell 53-41. The Red Devils haven't had much luck with the Bombers recently, as the team's come up short the last seven times they've met.

Loss or not, Lowell got some senior leadership from Elysia Laub and Bre Kidd. Laub put up seven points along with eight boards and three blocks, while Kidd went 5 for 12 en route to 14 points.

Kankakee Valley's victory bumped their record up to 8-14. As for Lowell, their defeat dropped their record down to 14-9.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Kankakee Valley has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 30.2 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Lowell struggles in that department as they've been averaging 29.5 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.

Kankakee Valley and Lowell were neck-and-neck when the teams last played back in December of 2024, but Kankakee Valley came up empty-handed after a 33-32 loss. Can Kankakee Valley avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.