Belleville West is ranked fifth in the Class AA state poll with a 23-1 record. The win over Belleville East was the program's 24th straight home victory.

The Maroons used used another scoring burst to beat Althoff on Saturday, 63-50. Belleville West wet into the fourth quarter with a one point lead, but unleashed a 14-3 run that put the game out of reach. Price had a team-high 23 points.

A sideline to the continued winning of Belleville West is the fact Xavier Price is making a run for his third-consecutive Southwestern Conference scoring title. The conference scoring leader currently is Tommie Liddell of East Saint Louis at 16.5 points per game. Price is second, averaging 15.1. If Liddell continues to hit his average, Price would need to average 24.5 points to overtake Liddell by the end of the regular season. In his past two games (Belleville East and Althoff), Price has averaged exactly 24.5 points.

Belleville West's only loss this season has come at the hands of Carbondale, a team they will meet again in sectionals. Carbondale used endline to endline ball pressure to frustrate the Maroons, winning 70-66. Price got some pressure-packed time running the point for the final two minutes when starting point guard J.B. Jones fouled out.