Basketball Game Preview: Riverside-Durham Pirates vs. Sanderson Spartans + Official Tickets

Riverside-Durham is a perfect 3-0 against Sanderson since December of 2015 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Thursday. The Pirates will welcome the Spartans at 7:30 p.m. Riverside-Durham is currently enjoying a perfect season and no doubt wants to keep things rolling.

For whatever reason, it's the away team that's had the advantage when Riverside-Durham and Person meet (four straight games heading into this one) and that held true again on Tuesday. The Pirates walked away with a 58-49 win over the Rockets. While the Pirates didn't have the best season last year (they finished 9-16), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.

Darryn Johnson

Points

12/02/25 @ Person	22
11/22/25 @ Franklinton	12
11/21/25 vs Orange	13
11/18/25 @ Athens Drive	17

Darryn Johnson was his usual excellent self, shooting 75% from the field to rack up 22 points along with five assists and four steals. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 16 points per game. Robert Mcdonald was another key player, going 7-for-11 on his way to 14 points and four steals.

They weren't the only ones working in the assist department: Riverside-Durham was working as a unit and finished the game with ten assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Sanderson, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Monday. They snuck past Green Hope with a 49-45 victory on Tuesday.

Sanderson's win bumped their record up to 3-1. As for Riverside-Durham, their victory bumped their record up to 4-0.

Riverside-Durham took their win against Sanderson when the teams last played back in November of 2017 by a conclusive 56-32 score. Will the Pirates repeat their success, or do the Spartans have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.