Firelands is 10-0 against Black River since February of 2019, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Firelands Falcons will head out on the road to challenge the Black River Pirates at 7:00 p.m. Black River took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Firelands, who comes in off a win.
Even though Columbia scored an imposing 56 points on Tuesday, Firelands still came out on top. Firelands took their contest against Columbia 65-56. The win made it back-to-back wins for Firelands.
Meanwhile, Black River's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Tuesday after their third straight defeat. They fell just short of Wellington by a score of 42-40.
Despite the loss, Black River had strong showings from Zane Bungard, who scored 11 points along with seven rebounds and two steals, and Evan Ladina, who scored 11 points along with seven rebounds and three steals. Ladina also posted two blocks for the first time this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Layne Lawhon, who scored five points.
Black River was without their leading scorer, John Kray, in Tuesday's contest. With Kray sitting this one out, Lawhon got some extra time on the court (18 vs. his season average of 7.78). Lawhon made the most of the opportunity, scoring five points. A few more games like that and he might be seeing even more time going forward.
Firelands' win bumped their record up to 11-7. As for Black River, their defeat was their 13th straight on the road dating back to last season, which dropped their record down to 2-15.
Firelands strolled past Black River when the teams last played back in January by a score of 66-51. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Kray, who scored 19 points along with five rebounds and three steals. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Firelands still be able to contain Kray? There's only one way to find out.
