Basketball Game Preview: Rainier Columbians vs. Riverdale Mavericks

Rainier and Riverdale are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2016, but not for long. The Rainier Columbians will challenge the Riverdale Mavericks at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have had a bumpy ride up to this point with eight consecutive losses for Rainier and three for Riverdale.

Last Wednesday, Rainier lost to Neah-Kah-Nie at home by a 63-48 margin. While losing is never fun, the Columbians can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Oregon basketball rankings (they are ranked 251st, while the Pirates are ranked 55th).

Meanwhile, Riverdale didn't have quite enough to beat Warrenton on Wednesday and fell 56-54.

Riverdale's defeat dropped their record down to 7-7. As for Rainier, their loss dropped their record down to 2-14.

Rainier came up short against Riverdale when the teams last played back in February of 2024, falling 72-62. Can Rainier avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.