Basketball Recap: Mallorie Rose's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Kankakee Valley over Westville

On Saturday, the Kankakee Valley Kougars didn't have quite enough to beat the Westville Blackhawks and fell 51-48. While losing is never fun, the Kougars can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 231st, while the Blackhawks are ranked 54th).

Several Kougars players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Mallorie Rose, who posted 11 points along with six steals and five rebounds. The dominant performance gave Rose a new career-high in steals. Haley Anderson was another key player, putting up 13 points and five rebounds.

Even though they lost, Kankakee Valley smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in nine consecutive contests.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Westville to victory, but perhaps none more so than Hillary Labis, who almost dropped a double-double on 19 points and nine rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Andrea Benefield, who went 7 of 14 on her way to 16 points and five rebounds.

Kankakee Valley's defeat dropped their record down to 5-9. As for Westville, they pushed their record up to 11-1 with the win, which was their third straight on the road.

Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Kankakee Valley will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on Lafayette Jefferson at 8:00 p.m. on January 7th. Westville will also get a bit of a break before their next matchup: they'll face off against Wheeler at 7:00 p.m. on January 7th. Westville is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 58.5 points per game this season.