Basketball Game Preview: Massaponax Panthers vs. Riverbend Bears

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Previous Games

01/17/25 - Home	48-51 L
02/12/24 - Home	64-30 W
02/07/24 - Home	57-42 W
01/18/24 - Away	57-33 W
02/17/23 - Home	65-59 W
+ 5 more games

Massaponax is 9-1 against Riverbend since January of 2022 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Monday. The Massaponax Panthers will take on the Riverbend Bears at 6:30 p.m. Massaponax will be looking to extend their current four-game winning streak.

Massaponax is headed into the match having just posted their closest win since December 30, 2024 on Friday. They had just enough and edged Stafford out 36-33.

Meanwhile, Riverbend strolled past Brooke Point with points to spare on Thursday, taking the game 64-48. With that victory, the Bears brought their scoring average up to 50.3 points per game.

Riverbend's win came from a few key players Massaponax will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Mikenzi Via, who went 7 of 8 en route to 16 points and seven boards. Those 16 points gave her a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Nyah Barnwell, who went 6 for 8 to rack up 14 points and eight rebounds.

Riverbend smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with ten offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in three consecutive contests.

Riverbend has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 12-7 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 54.6 points over those games. As for Massaponax, the win got them back to even at 10-10.

Massaponax couldn't quite finish off Riverbend in their previous matchup back in January and fell 51-48. Can Massaponax avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.