Preview: Oberlin The Phoenix vs. Black River Pirates
Oberlin is on a four-game streak of home losses, Black River a 16-game streak of away losses (dating back to last season), but someone's luck is about to change. The Oberlin The Phoenix will take on the Black River Pirates at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Given that the pair suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this contest.
On Tuesday, Oberlin came up short against Valley Forge and fell 54-43. Oberlin was down 42-21 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.
Despite the defeat, Oberlin saw an underclassman step up: Carmello Williams scored 19 points. It was the first time this season that Williams scored 15 or more points.
Meanwhile, Black River lost to Columbia on the road by a decisive 67-53 margin on Saturday. While losing is never fun, Black River can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 767th, while Columbia is ranked 381st).
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from John Kray, who scored 26 points along with two steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Evan Ladina, who scored 11 points along with six rebounds and four steals.
Oberlin has not been sharp recently as the team has lost 11 of their last 12 matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 2-19 record this season. As for Black River, their loss dropped their record down to an identical 2-19.
Things could have been worse for Oberlin, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 70-55 loss to Black River in their previous matchup back in January. Will Oberlin have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other basketball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
