Basketball Game Preview: Stafford Indians vs. Riverbend Bears

Stafford is 2-8 against Riverbend since January of 2020 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Stafford Indians are taking a road trip to square off against the Riverbend Bears at 6:30 p.m. Stafford is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last four games.

Stafford will bounce into Tuesday's game after beating North Stafford, who they had gone 1-8 against in their nine prior meetings. Stafford simply couldn't be stopped on Thursday as they easily beat North Stafford 67-16. The Indians have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five contests by 23 points or more this season.

Olivia Ferguson

Rebounds

01/30/25 vs North Stafford	12
01/27/25 vs Hylton	9
01/24/25 @ Brooke Point	15
01/23/25 vs Riverbend	12
01/21/25 vs Colonial Forge	10

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Stafford to victory, but perhaps none more so than Olivia Ferguson, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 12 boards. Ferguson has been hot for a while, having posted eight or more rebounds the last ten times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Annalise Mcconnell, who posted 17 points along with five boards and three steals.

Stafford smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 12 offensive rebounds in four consecutive matchups.

Meanwhile, Riverbend came up short against Colonial Forge on Friday and fell 47-36.

Stafford is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight games, which provided a nice bump to their 11-5 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 51.4 points per game. As for Riverbend, their defeat dropped their record down to 10-7.

Stafford didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Riverbend in their previous matchup last Thursday, but they still walked away with a 53-49 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Stafford since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.