Preview: Blue Ridge Fighting Tigers vs. Eastside Eagles
Blue Ridge is 8-2 against Eastside since January of 2018, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Blue Ridge Fighting Tigers will head out on the road to face off against the Eastside Eagles at 6:00 p.m. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Tuesday, Blue Ridge didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against St. Joseph's Catholic, but they still walked away with a 58-52 victory. Given Blue Ridge's advantage in MaxPreps' South Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 18th, while St. Joseph's Catholic is ranked 67th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Anyah Henderson, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and ten assists. She set a new season high mark in blocks with three. The team also got some help courtesy of Helena danielle Earley, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Eastside put another one in the bag on Tuesday to keep their perfect season alive. They snuck past Woodmont with a 50-45 victory.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Eastside to victory, but perhaps none more so than Miracle Cheeks, who scored 16 points along with five rebounds. Another player making a difference was Kristen Mcbride, who scored ten points along with seven rebounds and four steals.
The victory makes it two in a row for Blue Ridge and bumps their season record up to 8-2. As for Eastside, they pushed their record up to 5-0 with that victory, which was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season.
Keep an eye on the arc in Thursday's match: Blue Ridge have been dynamite from deep this season, having only drained 36.6% of their threes per game. It's a different story for Eastside, though, as they've only drained 34.4% of their threes per game this season. Given Blue Ridge's sizeable advantage in that area, Eastside will need to find a way to close that gap.
Blue Ridge didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Eastside when the teams last played back in January, but they still walked away with a 59-55 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Blue Ridge since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
