Basketball Game Preview: Riverside Warriors vs. Eastside Eagles

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Previous Games

02/05/26 - Away	63-52 W
01/09/26 - Home	51-34 W
02/08/25 - Away	55-44 W
02/04/25 - Home	38-30 W
01/26/24 - Home	45-47 L
+ 5 more games

Riverside is 8-2 against Eastside since December of 2021 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Friday. The Warriors will look to defend their home court against the Eagles at 7:00 p.m. One thing working in Riverside's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last ten matchups.

Riverside is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of South Carolina's top teams: James F. Byrnes, who was ranked fourth at the time (Riverside was ranked third). The Warriors came out on top against the Rebels by a score of 57-45 on Friday. The home team had taken home the W every time these teams have met since December 12, 2023, but that streak is no more.

Meanwhile, it can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Eastside had no problem doing just that on Monday. They walked away with a 70-63 win over the Copperheads. The score was all tied up 35-35 at the break, but the Eagles were the better team in the second half.

Riverside better focus on containing Thomas Rouse and Brandon Ray as the pair were huge in Eastside's win. Rouse went 9-for-14 to rack up 23 points along with six assists and six boards, while Ray shot 69% from the field en route to 22 points. Thanks to that strong game, Rouse now owns an excellent 45.8% shooting accuracy. The team also got some help courtesy of Wyatt Dugger, who posted ten points.

Eastside was working as a unit and finished the game with 20 assists. They are 14-4 when they've passed the ball that well.

Riverside's victory bumped their record up to 23-3. As for Eastside, their win bumped their record up to 17-9.

Riverside beat Eastside 63-52 when the teams last played two weeks ago. Will the Warriors repeat their success, or do the Eagles have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.