Preview: Black River Pirates vs. Brookside Cardinals
The Black River Pirates will head out on the road to take on the Brookside Cardinals at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Black River is no doubt hoping to put an end to a 13-game streak of away losses dating back to last season.
Last Friday, Black River lost to Firelands at home by a decisive 52-37 margin. The result shouldn't come as a shock considering that's the fewest points Black River has scored all season.
Despite their defeat, Black River saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Ridge Martin, who scored 15 points along with two steals, was perhaps the best of all. The team also got some help courtesy of Blake Hopkins, who scored six points along with five rebounds and five steals.
Black River was without their leading scorer, John Kray, in Friday's matchup. With Kray sitting this one out, Layne Lawhon got some extra time on the court (16 vs. his season average of 8.6).
Meanwhile, Brookside pushed their score all the way to 57 on Tuesday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They were beaten by Berea-Midpark 93-57. While losing is never fun, Brookside can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 305th, while Berea-Midpark is ranked 119th).
Black River has been struggling recently as they've lost ten of their last 11 contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 2-16 record this season. As for Brookside, their defeat dropped their record down to 14-6.
Black River ended up a good deal behind Brookside in their previous matchup back in January, losing 95-76. Can Black River avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
