KEWANEE - The Princeton Tigers and Kewanee Boilermakers were supposed to play on Jan. 23.

Mother Nature saved that game for a later date to create a little more excitement.

The Tigers and Boilermakers will meet tonight in a rescheduled game at Brockman Gymnasium in Kewanee with the Three Rivers East championship on the line.

Both teams are tied with 7-2 records going into the winner-takes-all showdown and playing their best basketball of the season.

Game time is 7 p.m.

“It’s gonna be a tough match up. That’s a well-coached team and a tough place to play. Coach Clark does an amazing job over there and will have those guys ready to play for sure,” Tiger coach Jason Smith said.

“We will have our work cut out for us and need to play some of our best basketball to compete tonight. It’s gonna be an electric atmosphere and couldn’t be played at a better time. It will have a regional championship feel to it and I’m looking forward to it. The more you play in that kind of environment, the better. I thought last Friday at Newman had a similar feel to it.

“It’s gonna be so much fun, that’s for sure.”

Kewanee coach Matt Clark is equally excited for the game.

“I’m expecting a highly competitive game tonight in a great atmosphere inside Brockman Gym,” he said. “Both teams are playing well as we get close to the postseason and tonight will be like a regional final type of game which will be good for both teams to compete in.”

The Tigers (14-12) are the defending TRAC East and regional champion and winners of three straight and five of their last six games.

The Boilermakers bring a 20-8 record to the battle. They had a seven-game win streak snapped on Saturday with a 64-48 loss at Sherrard in a Three Rivers crossover.

Princeton beat Kewanee 61-55 on Jan. 8 at Princeton.

Kewanee High School will pay special tribute to the late Boilermakers coach Shawn Lewis with a “Salute to Shaune Night.” He passed away July 2, 2020 at age 47. His son, Blaise, is a senior standout for the Boilermakers.

In his five seasons as head coach, Lewis’ Boilermakers went 93-60 with two regional championships (2016, 17) and were conference champs or co-champs in 2016-17 and 2019-20.

His last game came against Princeton in the 2020 regionals at Chillicothe, falling in the semifinals 60-56.

A 1991 graduate and former player at Kewanee, Lewis took great pride in Boilermakers basketball and was well versed in its history.