Preview: Gainesville Cardinals vs. Unity Reed Lions
Gainesville is 4-0 against Unity Reed since January of 2022, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Gainesville Cardinals will be playing in front of their home fans against the Unity Reed Lions at 7:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Gainesville has four straight wins, Unity Reed has 16 straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Last Tuesday, Gainesville didn't have too much trouble with Freedom on the road as they won 49-35. Given Gainesville's advantage in MaxPreps' Virginia basketball rankings (they are ranked 15th, while Freedom is ranked 76th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Madison McKenzie, who scored 16 points along with four steals. She is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last four games she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Peyton White, who scored 13 points along with seven rebounds and two steals.
Unity Reed suffered their biggest loss since December 8, 2023 on Tuesday. They had to suffer through a rough 62-7 loss at the hands of Osbourn Park. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Unity Reed in their matchups with Osbourn Park: they've now lost six in a row.
Gainesville's win was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 17-3. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 56.6 points per game. As for Unity Reed, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-14.
Everything came up roses for Gainesville against Unity Reed when the teams last played on January 2nd as the squad secured a 62-16 victory. Will Gainesville repeat their success, or does Unity Reed have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
