Ripley is 8-2 against Riverside since February of 2018 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Friday. The Ripley Vikings will face off against the Riverside Warriors at 7:00 p.m. Ripley is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 58.9 points per game this season.
Riverside will be up against a hot Ripley squad: the team just extended their winning streak to three. Ripley came out on top against Ravenswood by a score of 60-48 on Wednesday.
Matthew Stellato
| 02/26/25 @ Ravenswood | 19 |
| 02/04/25 @ Sissonville | 15 |
| 12/27/24 vs Ravenswood | 14 |
| 02/08/25 @ Grafton | 13 |
| 02/01/25 @ North Marion | 13 |
Matthew Stellato went supernova for Ripley, going 7-for-12 to rack up 19 points and six assists. The dominant performance gave Stellato a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Kyler Doss, who posted six points and five steals.
Ripley smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in four consecutive matchups.
Riverside fell on hard times earlier this season, but after back-to-back victories it seems like their luck might finally be changing. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Independence on Tuesday, sneaking past 65-63.
Riverside found their leader in sophomore Bryer Mullins, who went 11-for-25 on his way to 30 points and eight boards. Those 30 points set a new season-high mark for Mullins. Isaiah Coles was another key player, putting up seven points in addition to six assists and six steals.
Riverside's win bumped their record up to 6-15. As for Ripley, their victory was their seventh straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 16-5.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Ripley has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 26.1 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Riverside struggles in that department as they've been averaging 21.5 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Ripley came out on top in a nail-biter against Riverside in their previous matchup back in January, sneaking past 41-39. The rematch might be a little tougher for Ripley since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
