Ridgeway has enjoyed a three-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will square off against the Melrose Golden Wildcats at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Last Friday, Ridgeway was able to grind out a solid win over Kirby, taking the game 76-67. Given Ridgeway's advantage in MaxPreps' Tennessee basketball rankings (they are ranked 25th, while Kirby is ranked 204th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
It was another big night for Emanuel Allen, who dropped a double-double on 25 points and 18 rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points he has scored all season. Joshua Thornton was another key contributor, scoring 14 points along with four steals.
Meanwhile, Melrose came tearing into Friday's matchup with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 1.8 points) and they left with even more momentum. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 68-66 victory over Power Center Academy. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win Melrose has posted yet this season.
Ridgeway pushed their record up to 12-5 with that victory, which was their fifth straight at home. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 69.4 points per game. As for Melrose, they are on a roll lately: they've won 12 of their last 13 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 15-5 record this season.
Ridgeway beat Melrose 63-54 in their previous meeting back in December of 2023. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Melrose's Devin Sanders Jr, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 12 rebounds. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Ridgeway still be able to contain him? There's only one way to find out.
