Basketball Game Preview: River Valley Vikings vs. Cardington-Lincoln Pirates

Having just played yesterday, the River Valley Vikings will head out on the road to face off against the Cardington-Lincoln Pirates at 2:15 p.m. on Saturday. One thing working in River Valley's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last 15 contests.

River Valley is headed into the matchup after thoroughly thrashing Galion: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that River Valley blew Galion out of the water with a 77-41 final score. Given the Vikings' advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 66th, while the Tigers are ranked 566th), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Cardington-Lincoln entered their game against Fredericktown on Friday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. Cardington-Lincoln took a 77-71 hit to the loss column at the hands of Fredericktown.

River Valley's win was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 16-2. As for Cardington-Lincoln, their loss dropped their record down to 16-3.

Everything came up roses for River Valley against Cardington-Lincoln when the teams last played back in February of 2020, as the team secured a 104-69 victory. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Cardington-Lincoln's Nate Hickman, who almost dropped a double-double on 20 points and nine boards. Now that he won't be playing on Saturday, will it be easier for River Valley to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.