Basketball Game Preview: Blacklick Valley Vikings vs. Meyersdale Red Raiders

The Blacklick Valley Vikings will venture away from home to challenge the Meyersdale Red Raiders at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Blacklick Valley has six straight wins, Meyersdale has five straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Last Friday, everything came up roses for Blacklick Valley against Turkeyfoot Valley Area as the squad secured a 70-35 victory. The Vikings have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won nine matchups by 21 points or more this season.

Kristin Szymusiak was her usual excellent self, going 11 of 18 en route to 27 points and seven steals. She has been hot for a while, having posted two or more steals the last 39 times she's played. Another player making a difference was Josie Nedrich, who posted seven points in addition to nine assists and seven steals.

Blacklick Valley smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 24 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 13 offensive rebounds in five consecutive games.

Meanwhile, it's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 43-10, which was the final score in Meyersdale's tilt against Berlin Brothersvalley on Monday. While losing is never fun, the Red Raiders can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 641st, while the Mountaineers are ranked 67th).

Blacklick Valley's win was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 14-1. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 32 points. As for Meyersdale, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-9.

Everything came up roses for Blacklick Valley against Meyersdale when the teams last played back in January of 2024, as the team secured a 55-28 victory. In that contest, Blacklick Valley amassed a halftime lead of 44-12, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Wednesday.