Collinsville is on a four-game streak of home losses, Metro-East Lutheran a three-game streak of away losses, but someone's luck will change on Tuesday. The Collinsville Kahoks will take on the Metro-East Lutheran Knights at 7:30 p.m. Collinsville has been dominant on offense recently, having racked up an incredible 209 points over their last three matchups.
Collinsville's tournament run continued when they took on Althoff Catholic on Saturday. Collinsville fell 66-59 to Althoff Catholic. 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).
Donovan Coates
| 01/25/25 vs Althoff Catholic | 21 |
| 01/24/25 vs McCluer | 31 |
| 01/22/25 vs Sumner | 18 |
| 01/17/25 vs Belleville East | 15 |
| 01/14/25 @ Alton | 22 |
Despite their defeat, Collinsville saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Donovan Coates, who posted 21 points and three steals, was perhaps the best of all. Coates' evening made it five games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jace Wilkinson, who went 7 of 13 en route to 20 points and five rebounds.
Even though they lost, Collinsville smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 13 offensive boards in three consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Metro-East Lutheran ended up a good deal behind Mater Dei on Wednesday and lost 47-30. The game marked Metro-East Lutheran's lowest-scoring match so far this season.
Like Metro-East Lutheran, they lost despite seeing results from several players. Thijson Heard led the charge by putting up 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, earning eight points.
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 contest will pit two of the most dominant guards against one another: Coates and Heard. Coates has been dynamite this season: he has averaged 19.4 points and 4.8 boards. For his part, Heard has averaged 19 points on 62.5% shooting.
Everything came up roses for Collinsville against Metro-East Lutheran when the teams last played back in December of 2023, as the squad secured a 68-33 victory. Will Collinsville repeat their success, or does Metro-East Lutheran have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
