The Collinsville Kahoks were the 55-48 winner over the Jersey Panthers when they last played one another back in February of 2023, but their luck changed this time around. Collinsville took a 51-45 hit to the loss column at the hands of Jersey.
When it comes to explaining why Collinsville lost on Monday, one person who can't be blamed is Talesha Gilmore. Despite the final result, she almost dropped a double-double on 21 points and nine rebounds. That was a full 46.7% of Collinsville's points, marking the third time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Ella Guererro, who scored 16 points.
Even though they lost, Collinsville were working as a unit and finished the game with 13 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Jersey only racked up five assists.
Jersey's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Meredith Gray, who almost dropped a double-double on 15 points and nine rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Tessa Crawford, who scored 18 points along with eight rebounds.
Collinsville has traveled a rocky road recently having lost four of their last five contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 12-15 record this season. As for Jersey, their victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 19-11.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Collinsville won't have much time to rest: their next game is against O'Fallon at 7:30 p.m. on February 6th. Collinsville will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Illinois Rankings (they are ranked 258th, while O'Fallon is ranked 19th). As for Jersey, they will look to defend their home court on Friday against Waterloo at 7:30 p.m. Hopefully Jersey focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 11 on Monday.
