Basketball Game Preview: Cedar Grove Saints vs. Riverdale Raiders

Cedar Grove has won eight straight games at home, while Riverdale has won eight straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Friday. The Cedar Grove Saints will host the Riverdale Raiders at 8:30 p.m. Cedar Grove knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past ten contests -- so hopefully Riverdale likes a good challenge.

Last Friday, Cedar Grove humbled Luella with a 68-37 victory. The Saints have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 13 matches by 22 points or more this season.

Keith Gillespie

Points

02/07/25 @ Luella	22
02/04/25 @ Stephenson	16
01/31/25 vs Douglass	27
01/28/25 @ North Clayton	22
01/25/25 vs Mt. Zion	30

It was another big night for Keith Gillespie, who posted 22 points. His evening made it five games in a row in which he has scored at least 16 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Yusef Bowyer, who earned 13 points.

Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Riverdale beat North Clayton 56-50 on Wednesday.

Riverdale's win came from a few key players Cedar Grove will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Jaylen Allen, who went 7-for-16 on his way to 19 points. Nigel Favers was another key player, putting up 16 points along with five steals and three blocks.

Riverdale is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games, which provided a massive bump to their 14-11 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 54.0 points over those games. As for Cedar Grove, their victory bumped their record up to 22-3.

Everything came up roses for Cedar Grove against Riverdale when the teams last played back in January, as the squad secured a 74-33 win. Will Cedar Grove repeat their success, or does Riverdale have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.