Basketball Game Preview: Rise Academy Guardians vs. Harrisonburg HomeSchool Lightning

The Rise Academy Guardians will head out to challenge the Harrisonburg HomeSchool Lightning at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. One thing working in Rise Academy's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points every time they've taken the court this season.

If Rise Academy beats Harrisonburg HomeSchool with 70 points on Thursday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two games with that exact score. Rise Academy slipped by Harrisonburg HomeSchool 70-69 on Thursday.

Rise Academy's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Trevonte Atkins led the charge by putting up 20 points in addition to five assists and five boards. The matchup was Atkins' fifth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Nathaniel Seaborn, who posted 20 points and seven rebounds.

Atkins wasn't the only one working in the assists department: Rise Academy was working as a unit and finished the game with 26 assists. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now posted at least 23 assists in four consecutive contests.

Rise Academy pushed their record up to 13-5 with the win, which was their 12th straight at home dating back to last season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 77.3 points per game. As for Harrisonburg HomeSchool, their loss dropped their record down to 13-11.