Basketball Preview: Frederick Golden Eagles vs. Riverdale Ridge Ravens
The Frederick Golden Eagles will be playing in front of their home fans against the Riverdale Ridge Ravens at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Frederick entered their tilt with the Roughriders with three consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with four. Frederick strolled past the Roughriders with points to spare on Wednesday, taking the game 73-57. Given Frederick's advantage in MaxPreps' Colorado basketball rankings (they are ranked 128th, while the Roughriders are ranked 271st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Frederick's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Zach Burton, who scored 16 points along with six steals, and JJ Strojinc, who scored 29 points along with five rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Burton has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Ollie Justice, who scored nine points along with five rebounds and two steals.
Meanwhile, it may have taken overtime to finish the job, but Riverdale Ridge ultimately got the result they hoped for on Friday. They came out on top against Thompson Valley by a score of 93-82.
Frederick has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 11-7 record this season. As for Riverdale Ridge, they pushed their record up to 14-3 with that win, which was their 12th straight at home dating back to last season.
Frederick came up short against the Ravens in their previous matchup back in January, falling 79-67. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Riverdale Ridge's Kameren Davis, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and 11 rebounds. Now that Frederick knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
