Basketball Game Preview: PikeView Panthers vs. Ripley Vikings

The PikeView Panthers will head out on the road to take on the Ripley Vikings at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

PikeView will bounce into Friday's matchup after beating Bluefield, who they had gone 1-8 against in their nine prior meetings. PikeView managed a 51-46 win over Bluefield on Friday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Panthers.

Meanwhile, Ripley came tearing into Friday's contest with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 22.7 points), and they left with even more momentum. They took down the Warriors 72-54. The Vikings pushed the score to 50-29 by the end of the third, a deficit the Warriors cut but never quite recovered from.

PikeView better keep an eye on Matthew Stellato. He was instrumental in Ripley's win, shooting 60% from beyond the arc on his way to 20 points. Stellato continues to improve, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Kyler Doss, who went 5-for-9 en route to 13 points.

PikeView's victory bumped their record up to 10-11. As for Ripley, their win was their eighth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 17-5.