Basketball Game Preview: Vanden Vikings vs. River City Raiders

The Vanden Vikings will venture away from home to challenge the River City Raiders at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Vanden knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past seven matches -- so hopefully River City likes a good challenge.

Last Wednesday, Vanden escaped with a win against Sacramento by the margin of a single free throw, 59-58. Given the Vikings' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 115th, while the Dragons are ranked 267th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Vanden's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Chriseanie Nealy led the charge by going 9 of 18 en route to 22 points and five rebounds. Those 22 points gave Nealy a new career-high. Another player making a difference was James Carraway, who went 5 for 9 on his way to 11 points and three steals.

Meanwhile, after only 27 points in their last contest, River City made sure to put some points up on the board against Pioneer on Wednesday. River City came out on top against Pioneer by a score of 57-48.

Vanden is also on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight games, which provided a nice bump to their 12-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 66.8 points per game. As for River City, their victory ended a seven-game drought on the road and puts them at 6-14.

Everything came up roses for Vanden against River City when the teams last played back in December of 2015, as the squad secured an 80-51 win. Will Vanden repeat their success, or does River City have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.