Blue Ridge is on a three-game streak of home wins, while Miller School of Albemarle is on a three-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Blue Ridge Barons will welcome the Miller School of Albemarle Mavericks at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Last Thursday, Blue Ridge got the win against Hargrave Military Academy by a conclusive 79-58. The Barons have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 14 games by 20 points or more this season.
Blue Ridge's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Derrius Jones, who made all 5 shots he took for 10 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Justin Huang, who posted six points and four steals.
Blue Ridge was working as a unit and finished the game with 20 assists. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now posted at least 20 assists in three consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, with a playoff win on the line, Miller School of Albemarle rose to the challenge on Friday. They enjoyed a cozy 75-56 win over the Raiders. The Mavericks haven't had any issues with the Raiders recently, as the game was their eighth consecutive victory against them.
Blue Ridge better keep an eye on Jaylen Dyer. He was instrumental in Miller School of Albemarle's win, going 10-for-16 on his way to 25 points in addition to seven boards and five assists. The dominant performance gave Dyer a new career-high in points. Ryan Crotty was another key player, putting up 14 points and seven rebounds.
Blue Ridge is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests. That somehow still isn't as good as their 27-4 record this season. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 38.8 points. Miller School of Albemarle's win bumped their record up to 17-10.
Blue Ridge ended up a good deal behind Miller School of Albemarle when the teams last played last Thursday, losing 69-54. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Crotty, who went 9-for-16 en route to 27 points along with five boards and three steals. Now that Blue Ridge knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
