Collinsville and Belleville West are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2019, but not for long. The Collinsville Kahoks' road trip will continue as they head out to face the Belleville West Maroons at 7:30 p.m. on January 23rd. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this contest.
Collinsville suffered their closest defeat yet this season on Tuesday. They fell just short of Waterloo by a score of 54-51.
Despite the loss, Collinsville got a solid performance out of Talesha Gilmore, who dropped a double-double on 28 points and 11 rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Gilmore has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Ella Guererro, who scored 12 points along with two steals.
Meanwhile, Belleville West's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Monday after their fifth straight loss. They were outmatched by Civic Memorial on the road and fell 72-24. While losing is never fun, Belleville West can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 440th, while Civic Memorial is ranked 37th).
Collinsville has not been sharp recently, as they've lost three of their last four matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 10-11 record this season. As for Belleville West, they bumped their record down to 2-18 with that loss, which was their 11th straight on the road.
Collinsville took their victory against Belleville West when the teams last played back in December of 2023 by a conclusive 62-42. The rematch might be a little tougher for Collinsville since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
