Preview: Garinger Wildcats vs. Rocky River Ravens
Garinger and Rocky River are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2019, but not for long. The Garinger Wildcats will head out on the road to face off against the Rocky River Ravens at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have had a bumpy ride up to this point with three consecutive losses for Garinger and eight for Rocky River.
Garinger pushed their score all the way to 57 on Tuesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They took a 75-57 bruising from Providence. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Garinger in their matchups with Providence: they've now lost eight in a row.
The losing side was boosted by Misa Garris, who scored 27 points along with eight rebounds and five steals. That was a full 47.4% of Garinger's points, marking the fifth time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Kim'mya Kelly, who scored 14 points.
Meanwhile, Rocky River struggled with assists on Friday (Providence had nine more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Rocky River suffered a rough 53-29 defeat at the hands of Providence. While losing is never fun, Rocky River can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 326th, while Providence is ranked 138th).
Despite their loss, Rocky River saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Camille Montgomery, who scored 12 points along with eight rebounds, was perhaps the best of all. The team also got some help courtesy of Tristin Jarrett, who scored seven points along with six rebounds and two blocks.
Garinger has been struggling recently as they've lost six of their last seven matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 12-11 record this season. As for Rocky River, they dropped their record down to 6-15 with that loss, which was their 14th straight on the road dating back to last season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Garinger have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 32.6 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Rocky River struggles in that department as they've been averaging 33.2 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Garinger didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Rocky River in their previous meeting back in January, but they still walked away with a 50-45 win. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Montgomery, who scored 27 points along with eight rebounds and three steals. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Garinger still be able to contain Montgomery? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
