Basketball Game Preview: Rush-Henrietta Royal Comets vs. Fairport Red Raiders

Rush-Henrietta and Fairport are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2020, but not for long. The Rush-Henrietta Royal Comets will venture away from home to take on the Fairport Red Raiders at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are still undefeated after eight-games, but that won't be the case come Friday.

Last Saturday, Rush-Henrietta escaped with a win against Green Tech by the margin of a single free throw, 67-66. Given the Royal Comets' advantage in MaxPreps' New York basketball rankings (they are ranked eighth, while the Eagles are ranked 54th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Jalen Taggart and Avery Council were among the main playmakers for Rush-Henrietta as the former went 10 of 20 on his way to 31 points and eight rebounds and the latter went 9 of 15 on his way to 23 points and four steals. That makes it five consecutive games in which Taggart has scored at least a third of Rush-Henrietta's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Amir Abdul-Haqq, who posted nine points and five rebounds.

Meanwhile, Fairport made easy work of Webster Thomas on Wednesday and carried off a 66-46 win. The Red Raiders have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five games by 20 points or more this season.

Fairport pushed their record up to 8-0 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 34.7 points. As for Rush-Henrietta, their record now sits at 8-0.

Rush-Henrietta couldn't quite finish off Fairport in their previous meeting back in January of 2024 and fell 76-73. Can Rush-Henrietta avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.