Preview: Loch Raven Raiders vs. Pikesville Panthers
Loch Raven is 1-9 against Pikesville since February of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Loch Raven Raiders will head out on the road to face off against the Pikesville Panthers at 5:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Loch Raven came tearing into Tuesday's match with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 22.7 points) and they left with even more momentum. They blew past Randallstown 54-18 at home. Given Loch Raven's advantage in MaxPreps' Maryland basketball rankings (they are ranked 70th, while Randallstown is ranked 223rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, Pikesville entered their tilt with Woodlawn with five consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with six. Pikesville breezed by Woodlawn at home to the tune of 68-31 on Wednesday. Winning is a bit easier when you work as a team to rack up nine more assists than your opponent, as Pikesville did.
Pikesville found their leader in underclassman Mariah Jones-Bey, who scored 13 points along with three steals. Jones-Bey hasn't dropped below two steals for nine straight games. Another player making a difference was Bree Taylor, who scored nine points.
Loch Raven pushed their record up to 16-5 with that victory, which was their sixth straight at home. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 58.7 points per game. As for Pikesville, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 13 of their last 14 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 18-3 record this season.
Loch Raven ended up a good deal behind Pikesville in their previous meeting back in December of 2023, losing 51-32. Can Loch Raven avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
