Basketball Game Preview: Bay Rockets vs. Rocky River Pirates

The Bay Rockets and the Rocky River Pirates will compete for holiday cheer at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

While Bay didn't have the best season last year (they finished 8-16), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They came out on top against North Olmsted by a score of 55-42 on Saturday. Given the Rockets' advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 199th, while the Eagles are ranked 521st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Rocky River beat John Hay 52-40 on Monday.

Rocky River found their leader in sophomore Nora Bruder, who went 8 for 17 on her way to 24 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Bruder has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Elizabeth Lang, who dropped a double-double on 12 points and 12 boards.

Rocky River smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in nine consecutive matches.

Rocky River is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 7-2 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 57.0 points per game. As for Bay, their victory bumped their record up to 5-2.

Bay suffered a grim 67-42 defeat to Rocky River in their previous matchup back in February. Thankfully for Bay, Ava Patti (who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 11 rebounds) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.