Preview: Rocky River Ravens vs. Providence Panthers
The Rocky River Ravens will head out on the road to square off against the Providence Panthers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Last Tuesday, Rocky River came up short against Butler and fell 66-53. While losing is never fun, Rocky River can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 203rd, while Butler is ranked 86th).
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Shamari Johnson, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 12 rebounds. He hasn't dropped below nine rebounds for 13 straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Jayden Ross, who scored 17 points along with six rebounds and two steals.
Meanwhile, while it was all tied up 19-19 at halftime, Providence was not quite Independence's equal in the second half on Tuesday. They suffered a rough 61-40 defeat at the hands of the Patriots. Providence has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Rocky River's defeat was their third straight at home, which dropped their record down to 9-12. Providence's record is now 7-14.
Rocky River didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Providence in their previous matchup back in January, but they still walked away with a 63-57 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Rocky River since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
