Preview: St. Joseph Spartans vs. Riverview Raiders
Having just played yesterday, the St. Joseph Spartans will head out on the road to face off against the Riverview Raiders at 7:30 p.m. on February 8th. St. Joseph knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past 14 contests -- so hopefully Riverview likes a good challenge.
In what's become a running theme this season, St. Joseph gave their fans yet another huge victory on Wednesday. They really took it to Jeannette for the full four quarters, racking up a 64-25 win on the road. Given St. Joseph's advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 138th, while Jeannette is ranked 532nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Julie Spinelli continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, scoring 23 points along with five assists and two steals. She is on a roll when it comes to points, as she's now scored 15 or more in the last 14 games she's played. Another player making a difference was Gia Richter, who scored 13 points along with five rebounds and three steals.
Meanwhile, Riverview had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 27 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Saturday. They put the hurt on Monessen with a sharp 50-25 victory. Riverview has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 11 games by 21 points or more this season.
Riverview's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Isabel Chaparro, who scored 15 points. Katerina Tsambis was another key contributor, scoring 16 points along with six rebounds and five steals.
Riverview's lineup was just a bit different on Saturday as Blake Huffman got a bit more time on the court (26 vs. her season average of 8.47). Huffman made the most of the opportunity, scoring five points. A few more games like that and she might be seeing even more time going forward.
St. Joseph's win was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 18-2. As for Riverview, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 14-5 record this season.
Thursday's match is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: St. Joseph have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 38.1 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Riverview struggles in that department as they've been averaging 31.8 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything came up roses for St. Joseph against Riverview in their previous matchup back in January as the squad secured a 70-40 victory. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Riverview's Lola Abraham, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 11 steals. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will St. Joseph still be able to contain Abraham? There's only one way to find out.
