Preview: Granbury Pirates vs. Rider Raiders
The Granbury Pirates will look to defend their home court on Friday against the Rider Raiders at 7:30 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Last Friday, Granbury strolled past Azle with points to spare, taking the game 66-52. Given Granbury's advantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 237th, while Azle is ranked 1145th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Rider can finally bid farewell to their three-game losing streak thanks to their game on Tuesday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Azle 58-26 at home. That looming 58-26 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for Rider yet this season.
Caiden Reed was his usual excellent self, scoring 21 points along with six rebounds and three steals. That makes it four consecutive games in which he has scored at least a third of Rider's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jared Cohee, who scored seven points along with six rebounds.
Granbury's win bumped their record up to 13-8. As for Rider, their win ended a five-game drought at home and bumped them up to 8-17.
Granbury strolled past Rider in their previous meeting on January 2nd by a score of 68-51. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Reed, who scored 31 points along with eight rebounds. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Granbury still be able to contain him? There's only one way to find out.
