Basketball Game Preview: River Islands Riptide vs. Downey Knights

The River Islands Riptide will take on the Downey Knights at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. River Islands is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 62.5 points per game this season.

On Friday, River Islands needed a bit of extra time to put away McNair. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past the Eagles 76-73. The Riptide's offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.

Charles Mapanao had a dynamite game for River Islands, going 7 for 8 from beyond the arc on his way to 25 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Darius Radoc Factoran, who went 6 of 9 en route to 15 points.

Meanwhile, Downey was not able to break out of their rough patch on Monday as the team picked up their seventh straight loss. They received a blow as they fell 55-36 to Central Catholic. The Knights were down 48-27 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.

Downey's defeat dropped their record down to 2-12. As for River Islands, their win ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 6-6.

River Islands came out on top in a nail-biter against Downey in their previous meeting back in December of 2024, sneaking past 55-52. Will River Islands repeat their success, or does Downey have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.