Basketball Game Preview: Pinnacle Pioneers vs. Cibola Raiders

The Pinnacle Pioneers will be taking part in a tournament against the Cibola Raiders at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Pinnacle has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the matchup with three straight defeats, while Cibola will come in with four straight victories.

Last Thursday, Pinnacle was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 76-70 to Liberty. While losing is never fun, the Pioneers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 75th, while the Lions are ranked 16th).

Despite the loss, Pinnacle got top-tier performance from Ryan Nelson, who went 9-for-18 to rack up 21 points. Rhys Robinson was another key player, going 5-for-7 en route to 10 points.

Meanwhile, Cibola was able to grind out a solid win over Gila Ridge on Thursday, taking the game 56-44.

Cibola pushed their record up to 13-10 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 71.0 points over those games. As for Pinnacle, their defeat dropped their record down to 8-17.