Basketball Game Preview: Roosevelt Rough Riders vs. Fresno Warriors

Roosevelt has gone 9-1 against Fresno recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Roosevelt Rough Riders will venture away from home to challenge the Fresno Warriors at 6:30 p.m. Roosevelt knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past 14 matchups -- so hopefully Fresno likes a good challenge.

Roosevelt is headed into the game having just suffered their closest defeat since January 3, 2024 on Wednesday. They fell just short of Edison by a score of 76-73. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as the Rough Riders came into the contest with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 247th, while the Tigers are ranked 1005th).

The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Cobi Posas, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 20 boards. The matchup was his third in a row with at least ten points. Terrell Sutherland was another key player, going 8 of 13 on his way to 22 points and seven rebounds.

Even though they lost, Roosevelt smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in nine consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Fresno didn't have quite enough to beat Sanger on Wednesday and fell 48-46. The loss continues a trend for the Warriors in their matchups with the Apaches: they've now lost six in a row.

Roosevelt's defeat was their first in the league, dropping their league record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 15-9. As for Fresno, they now have a losing record at 11-12.

Roosevelt came up short against Fresno when the teams last played back in February of 2024, falling 57-53. Can Roosevelt avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.