Basketball Game Preview: Stone Bridge Bulldogs vs. Heritage Pride

The Stone Bridge Bulldogs will venture away from home to square off against the Heritage Pride at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.

Last Thursday, Stone Bridge was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 54-48 to Lightridge.

Meanwhile, Heritage had already won six in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 33.5 points) and they went ahead and made it seven on Friday. They blew past the Titans 63-16. Given the Pride's advantage in MaxPreps' Virginia basketball rankings (they are ranked 18th, while the Titans are ranked 167th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Stone Bridge better focus on containing Keira Stanford and Riley Makitka as the pair were huge in Heritage's win. Stanford went 6 of 11 en route to 13 points along with six boards and six steals, while Makitka posted ten points in addition to five assists and three steals. Makitka has been hot, having posted two or more steals the last seven times she's played. Anna Egnotovich was another key player, putting up ten points.

Heritage smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 19 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive rebounds in seven consecutive matches.

Heritage pushed their record up to 14-3 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 24.3 points per game. As for Stone Bridge, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-8.

Stone Bridge skirted past Heritage 46-44 when the teams last played back in January of 2024. Will Stone Bridge repeat their success, or does Heritage have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.