Basketball Game Preview: Riverside-Durham Pirates vs. Northern Nash Knights

The Riverside-Durham Pirates and the Northern Nash Knights will compete for holiday cheer at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. One thing working in Riverside-Durham's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last six contests.

On Thursday, Riverside-Durham was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 64-59 to South Garner. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as the Pirates came into the matchup with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 41st, while the Titans are ranked 313th).

Meanwhile, Northern Nash strolled into their game on Friday with a perfect record and they left with the same. They came out on top against Fike by a score of 70-60.

Northern Nash's win came from a few key players Riverside-Durham will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Christian Barnes, who went 9-for-20 to rack up 24 points in addition to six rebounds and five steals. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 15.8 points per game. Another player making a difference was Quantay James, who almost dropped a double-double with 19 points and nine boards.

Northern Nash smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in 19 consecutive games dating back to last season.

Having lost for the first time this season, Riverside-Durham fell to 7-1. As for Northern Nash, their victory bumped their record up to 8-0.