Basketball Game Preview: Western Reserve Blue Devils vs. Mineral Ridge Rams

The Western Reserve Blue Devils will take on the Mineral Ridge Rams in a holiday battle at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Western Reserve has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.

On Wednesday, the stars were shining brightly for Western Reserve in a 63-49 victory over Chalker.

Meanwhile, Mineral Ridge was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Tuesday as they fell 44-39 to Memorial. The loss was the Rams' first of the season.

Western Reserve will need to focus on slowing down Chase Moore, one of several Mineral Ridge players who made an impact when they last played. He posted 12 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Derrick Hester, who scored ten points.

Western Reserve's win bumped their record up to 5-1. As for Mineral Ridge, their defeat was their first of the season and also makes their record 5-1.

Things could have been worse for Western Reserve, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 48-34 loss to Mineral Ridge in their previous matchup back in February. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Moore, who dropped a double-double with 19 points and 11 boards. Now that the Blue Devils know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.