Basketball Recap: Blue Ridge Falls Despite Big Games from Opal Maralit and Talia Maxwell

If Blue Ridge was riding high fresh off their 58-36 takedown of Berea last Friday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The Blue Ridge Fighting Tigers took a 54-36 bruising from the Daniel Lions on Tuesday. Unfortunately, that's the second time they've come up short against the Lions this season, as they also lost their prior matchup 53-28 back in January.

Blue Ridge's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Talia Maxwell, who dropped a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards, and Opal Maralit, who posted eight points and four steals. Maxwell continues to improve, besting her previous point total in each of the last four games she's played.

Daniel found their leader in sophomore Lila Mann, who went 6 of 9 to rack up 16 points in addition to seven rebounds and seven steals. The dominant performance gave Mann a new career-high in steals. Another player making a difference was Shala Williams, who earned nine points and three steals.

Blue Ridge's defeat dropped their record down to 18-6. As for Daniel, they are on a roll lately: they've won 13 of their last 14 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 21-4 record this season.

Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Blue Ridge will take on Greer at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. As for Daniel, a feisty cat fight will be fought when the Lions duke it out with the Bobcats at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday.