Basketball Game Preview: Riverdale Raiders vs. Gateway Eagles

The Riverdale Raiders will face off against the Gateway Eagles at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Riverdale has struggled recently with ten defeats in a row, while Gateway will arrive with five straight victories.

Riverdale is headed into the game out to prove that what happened against Lehigh on Tuesday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Riverdale was beaten by Lehigh 75-10. The Raiders were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 43-2.

Trezure Pender was Riverdale's leading scorer, having posted five points.

Meanwhile, Gateway blew past Dunbar, posting a 63-22 win. Given the Eagles' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 106th, while the Tigers are ranked 363rd), the result on Thursday wasn't entirely unexpected.

Gateway pushed their record up to 5-2 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 58.3 points per game. As for Riverdale, their loss dropped their record down to 0-7.

Riverdale took a serious blow against Gateway in their previous meeting back in December of 2023, falling 65-26. Can Riverdale avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.