Basketball Recap: John Golden's Big Game Can't Quite Lead River Ridge over Gulf

River Ridge was not able to break out of their rough patch on Monday as the team picked up their third straight loss. They took a 75-65 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Gulf Buccaneers. The Royal Knights were given a dose of their own medicine in this game as the Buccaneers apparently hadn't forgotten their defeat the last time these teams played back in January.

River Ridge lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being John Golden, who went 5 for 12 on his way to 12 points in addition to eight rebounds and three blocks. The team also got some help courtesy of Tommy DeLoreto, who almost dropped a double-double on 14 points and nine boards.

Leading Gulf to victory were Mikha Brown and Jaydn Wood. Brown went 8 of 20 on his way to 22 points and eight steals, while Wood dropped a double-double on 14 points and 11 rebounds. What's more, Wood also racked up two blocks, the most he's had since back in December of 2023. Josh Murphy was another key player, putting up eight points and seven assists.

River Ridge's loss dropped their record down to 5-3. As for Gulf, the win was the fifth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 6-1.

River Ridge wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next contest, an 85-79 defeat against Dunedin on the 11th. As for Gulf, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next match, a 50-46 loss against Land O' Lakes on the 10th.