Preview: Richmond Raiders vs. Hoggard Vikings
Richmond has enjoyed the comforts of home their last six games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will challenge the Hoggard Vikings at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Richmond extended their postseason success on Tuesday against Southeast Raleigh. They put the hurt on the Bulldogs with a sharp 64-43 win. The game was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 36-16.
Jamyia "Juicy" Lindsey continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, scoring 43 points along with eight rebounds and two steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points she has scored all season. Jasiah "JoJo" Gilchrist was another key contributor, scoring ten points along with two blocks.
Meanwhile, Hoggard had already won 18 in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 26.9 points), and they went ahead and made it 19 on Tuesday. They were the clear victor by a 48-26 margin over South View. Given Hoggard's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 14th, while South View is ranked 97th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Hoggard's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Tristan Shivers led the charge by scoring eight points along with 11 assists and three steals. Shivers has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last three times she's played. Another player making a difference was Ak Chance (xp), who scored 13 points along with five rebounds.
Richmond's victory was their 11th straight at home, which pushed their record up to 25-4. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 64.5 points per game. As for Hoggard, their victory bumped their record up to 29-1.
Friday's contest will pit two of the most dominant guards against one another: Lindsey and Shivers. Lindsey has been dynamite this season: she has averaged 25 points, 4.4 steals, and 3.9 assists. For her part, Shivers has averaged 14.3 points, 3.3 steals, and 7.8 assists.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Richmond have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 24.6 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Hoggard struggles in that department as they've been averaging 30.4 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
