Basketball Game Preview: River Ridge Royal Knights vs. Land O' Lakes Gators

River Ridge and Land O' Lakes are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2015, but not for long. The River Ridge Royal Knights will be playing in front of their home fans against the Land O' Lakes Gators at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (River Ridge has three straight wins, Land O' Lakes has four straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

River Ridge's tournament run continued when they took on Boone on Saturday. River Ridge greeted the New Year with with a 64-45 victory over Boone. Given the Royal Knights' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 128th, while the Braves are ranked 283rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Land O' Lakes played a tough match on Tuesday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They had to suffer through a 51-24 loss at the hands of Sunlake. The Gators were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 28-4.

River Ridge will have to keep a close watch on Jessi Saffold and Julia Foster, a pair of players who had a big impact on Land O' Lakes' prior game. Saffold posted seven points along with ten boards and six steals, while Foster had five points in addition to seven steals and five boards. Saffold is crushing it when it comes to steals: she's grabbed at least five every time she's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Faith Mince, who posted three points.

River Ridge is on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last 12 games, which provided a nice bump to their 12-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 50.7 points per game. As for Land O' Lakes, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-9.

River Ridge came up short against Land O' Lakes in their previous matchup back in January of 2023, falling 59-48. Will River Ridge have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.