Preview: Riverview Sarasota Rams vs. Cardinal Mooney Cougars
Riverview Sarasota has been on the road for two straight, but on Monday they'll finally head home. They will take on the Cardinal Mooney Cougars at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the pair posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Winning is just a little bit easier when you outrebound your opponent 21 to ten on the offensive boards, a fact Riverview Sarasota proved on Wednesday. They walked away with a 72-61 victory over Lemon Bay. Given Riverview Sarasota's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 27th, while Lemon Bay is ranked 215th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Ava Sims continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, scoring 27 points along with nine rebounds and two steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points she has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Susan Lowther, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Cardinal Mooney came tearing into Saturday's matchup with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 26.5 points) and they left with even more momentum. They snuck past Lakewood with a 59-55 victory.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Cardinal Mooney to victory, but perhaps none more so than Sy?Monique Simon, who scored 20 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Madi Mignery, who scored 15 points.
Riverview Sarasota pushed their record up to 16-2 with that victory, which was their third straight on the road. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 66.7 points per game. As for Cardinal Mooney, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine matches, which provided a nice bump to their 13-6 record this season.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as Riverview Sarasota and Cardinal Mooney are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Riverview Sarasota hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having only averaged 62.4 points per game. However, it's not like Cardinal Mooney struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 55.5 points per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Riverview Sarasota suffered a grim 68-43 defeat to Cardinal Mooney in their previous meeting back in January of 2023. Thankfully for Riverview Sarasota, Olivia Davis (who scored 13 points along with five assists and two steals) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
