The Massaponax Panthers will square off against the Riverbend Bears at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
On Friday, Massaponax was able to grind out a solid victory over Stafford, taking the game 68-57. The win continues a trend for the Panthers in their matchups with the Indians: they've now won nine in a row.
Meanwhile, Riverbend narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past Brooke Point 67-65. That's two games straight that the Bears have won by exactly two points.
Riverbend's win came from a few key players Massaponax will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Amani Gipson, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and ten boards. The contest was his fifth in a row with at least 17 points. Another player making a difference was Nate Tyler, who went 6 of 14 to rack up 18 points and seven assists.
Riverbend was working as a unit and finished the game with 22 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.
The win made it two in a row for Riverbend and bumps their season record up to 14-5. They've had to fight for that success though, as they only beat their opponents by an average of two points across that stretch. As for Massaponax, their victory bumped their record up to 13-9.
Massaponax didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Riverbend in their previous meeting back in January, but they still walked away with a 56-51 win. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Gipson, who dropped a double-double on 25 points and 14 rebounds. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Massaponax still be able to contain Gipson? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
