Basketball Game Preview: Land O' Lakes Gators vs. River Ridge Royal Knights

Land O' Lakes and River Ridge are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2015, but not for long. The Land O' Lakes Gators will challenge the River Ridge Royal Knights at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Land O' Lakes has struggled recently with four losses in a row, while River Ridge will arrive with three straight victories.

Land O' Lakes is headed into the contest out to prove that what happened against Sunlake on Tuesday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Land O' Lakes was outmatched by Sunlake and fell 51-24. While losing is never fun, the Gators can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 435th, while the Seahawks are ranked 164th).

Land O' Lakes' defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Jessi Saffold, who posted seven points along with ten boards and six steals, and Julia Foster, who put up five points in addition to seven steals and five boards. Saffold is crushing it when it comes to steals: she's grabbed at least five every time she's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Faith Mince, who had three points.

Meanwhile, River Ridge greeted the New Year with with a 64-45 win over Boone.

River Ridge is on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last 12 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 12-6 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 50.7 points per game. As for Land O' Lakes, their loss dropped their record down to 7-9.

Land O' Lakes beat River Ridge 59-48 in their previous meeting back in January of 2023. The rematch might be a little tougher for Land O' Lakes since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.