Basketball Game Preview: Richland Raiders vs. Santa Fe Wildcats

Richland is 10-0 against Santa Fe since January of 2021 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Richland Raiders will host the Santa Fe Wildcats at 6:00 p.m. Richland is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 54 points per game this season.

Richland is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They blew past Eagleville 68-31 on Tuesday. Given the Raiders' advantage in MaxPreps' Tennessee basketball rankings (they are ranked 26th, while the Eagles are ranked 163rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Richland can attribute much of their success to Shelby Higgins, who went 8 of 14 en route to 19 points along with six rebounds and three steals, and Bailey Blair, who went 7 for 11 on her way to 17 points and five assists. Blair's evening made it eight games in a row in which she has scored at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Kate Kirk, who posted eight points and seven boards.

They weren't the only one working in the assists department: Richland was working as a unit and finished the game with 22 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.

Meanwhile, Santa Fe lost to Cornersville on the road by a 49-32 margin on Tuesday. The Wildcats haven't had much luck with the Bulldogs recently, as the team's come up short the last two times they've met.

Richland has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 13-2 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 53.0 points per game. As for Santa Fe, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-11.

Richland strolled past Santa Fe in their previous meeting back in February of 2024 by a score of 39-24. Will Richland repeat their success, or does Santa Fe have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.