Preview: Rocky River Pirates vs. Valley Forge Patriots
Rocky River is 8-2 against Valley Forge since January of 2016, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Rocky River Pirates will head out on the road to face off against the Valley Forge Patriots at 7:00 p.m. Given that the pair suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this contest.
Rocky River unfortunately witnessed the end of their three-game winning streak on Friday. They fell 66-53 to Elyria Catholic.
The losing side was boosted by Julian Patti, who scored 18 points along with nine rebounds and three steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Hakeem Zayed, who scored ten points.
Meanwhile, Valley Forge's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Tuesday after their seventh straight loss. They took a 61-45 bruising from Twinsburg. While losing is never fun, Valley Forge can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 707th, while Twinsburg is ranked 215th).
Rocky River's loss dropped their record down to 6-4. As for Valley Forge, their loss was their 11th straight at home dating back to last season, which bumped their record down to 2-10.
Rocky River strolled past Valley Forge in their previous matchup back in January of 2021 by a score of 57-39. The rematch might be a little tougher for Rocky River since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
