Preview: James River Midlothian Rapids vs. Monacan Chiefs
The James River Midlothian Rapids will head out on the road to take on the Monacan Chiefs at 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
James River Midlothian's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their third straight loss. They fell 68-57 to Manchester. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
Meanwhile, after a string of three wins, Monacan's good fortune finally ran out on Saturday. They were dealt a 80-41 loss at the hands of Kempsville. While losing is never fun, Monacan can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Virginia basketball rankings (they are ranked 98th, while Kempsville is ranked 30th).
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the most dominant came from Walker Lloyd, who scored 16 points along with eight rebounds. He continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Jackson Bunn, who scored eight points.
James River Midlothian's loss dropped their record down to 9-4. As for Monacan, they bumped their record down to 9-6 with that defeat, which was their third straight on the road.
James River Midlothian came up short against Monacan when the teams last played back in December of 2023, falling 83-77. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Monacan's Samuel Sims, who dropped a double-double on 32 points and 12 rebounds. Now that James River Midlothian knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
