Basketball Game Preview: Riverside-Durham Pirates vs. East Chapel Hill Wildcats

The Riverside-Durham Pirates will head out to face off against the East Chapel Hill Wildcats at 8:00 p.m. on Monday.

Last Friday, Riverside-Durham came up short against Hillside and fell 42-34. While losing is never fun, the Pirates can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 367th, while the Hornets are ranked 181st).

Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Talib Harrell, who went 6 for 8 on his way to 12 points and four steals. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in steals. Another player making a difference was Darryn Johnson, who posted eight points along with eight boards and five assists.

East Chapel Hill fell on hard times earlier this season, but after back-to-back wins it seems like their luck might finally be changing. They took down Northern Durham 78-64 on Friday.

Riverside-Durham has also been struggling recently as they've lost seven of their last eight contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 5-14 record this season. As for East Chapel Hill, their victory ended a five-game drought at home and bumped them up to 5-12.

Riverside-Durham came up short against East Chapel Hill in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, falling 50-45. Can Riverside-Durham avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.