Basketball Game Preview: Independence Patriots vs. Catawba Ridge Copperheads

The Independence Patriots and the Catawba Ridge Copperheads will face off at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday without much rest having both just played. One thing working in Independence's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last four matches.

Independence is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another highly-ranked state team: Lancaster, who was ranked fifth in their home state at the time (Independence was ranked 16th). Independence fell to Lancaster 70-66. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Saturday (58), the Patriots still had to take the loss.

The match pitted two dominant guards against one another in Jaxson Neely and Jordan Watford. Watford had a great game on Friday and went 7 for 10 on his way to 17 points in addition to seven assists and seven boards. Meanwhile, Neely did his best for the losing side, putting up ten points and five boards.

Meanwhile, Catawba Ridge had to suffer through a 68-36 loss at the hands of Charlotte Country Day School.

Despite the defeat, Catawba Ridge saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Isaiah Thomas went 8 of 13 on his way to 17 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Elijah Peters, who posted seven points.

Catawba Ridge's loss dropped their record down to 4-7. As for Independence, with the defeat, they broke their three-game winning streak and moved their record to 9-2.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Independence has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 27.8 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Catawba Ridge struggles in that department as they've been averaging 26.8 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.