Preview: Massaponax Panthers vs. Riverbend Bears
Massaponax is on a 17-game streak of home wins (dating back to last season), while Riverbend is on a nine-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Massaponax Panthers will take on the Riverbend Bears at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
A well-balanced attack led Massaponax over Stafford in every quarter on their way to victory on Monday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Massaponax blew Stafford out of the water with a 73-22 final score. The match was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 42-11.
Faith Butler continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a triple-double on 26 points, 12 rebounds, and 13 steals. She also posted eight assists for the first time this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Kyra Price, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and ten rebounds.
Massaponax was without their leading scorer, Takiera Ramey, in Monday's matchup. With Ramey sitting this one out, Nadia Banawoe got some extra time on the court (20 vs. her season average of 7.67). Banawoe made the most of the opportunity, scoring five points along with six rebounds. A few more games like that and she might be seeing even more time going forward.
Meanwhile, Riverbend was fully in charge on Monday, breezing past Brooke Point 65-29 at home. Given Riverbend's advantage in MaxPreps' Virginia basketball rankings (they are ranked 130th, while Brooke Point is ranked 354th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Maniyah Alston, who scored 30 points along with four steals. Olivia Long was another key contributor, scoring two points along with nine rebounds and eight assists.
Massaponax's win bumped their record up to 18-3. As for Riverbend, they are on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 14-4 record this season.
Wednesday's match is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Massaponax have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 40.2% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Riverbend struggles in that department as they've made 37.9% of their threes this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Everything went Massaponax's way against Riverbend when the teams last played back in January as Massaponax made off with a 57-33 victory. Will Massaponax repeat their success, or does Riverbend have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
