It may have taken overtime to finish the job, but the Okawville Rockets ultimately got the result they hoped for on Thursday. They snuck past Belleville East with a 60-54 victory. Given Okawville's advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 85th, while Belleville East is ranked 408th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Alayna Kraus was her usual excellent self, scoring 30 points along with nine rebounds and three steals. The game was her 14th in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Madisyn Wienstroer, who scored eight points along with six rebounds and three steals.
Okawville has been performing well recently as they've won eight of their last ten contests, which provided a nice bump to their 11-3 record this season. As for Belleville East, they have not been sharp recently, as they've lost seven of their last eight contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-9 record this season.
Okawville won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Vashon at 1:30 p.m. on December 29th. Vashon has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last four games. Belleville East and O'Fallon will face off at 7:30 p.m. on January 2, 2024 without much rest after finishing up games yesterday.
