Basketball Game Preview: Pine River Area Bucks vs. Manistee Chippewas

Pine River Area and Manistee are an even 3-3 against one another since December of 2015, but not for long. The Pine River Area Bucks are taking a road trip to face off against the Manistee Chippewas at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Pine River Area has four straight victories, Manistee has four straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Pine River Area is headed into the matchup after thoroughly thrashing Mancelona: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Pine River Area blew Mancelona out of the water with a 76-44 final score. With the Bucks ahead 49-27 at the half, the contest was all but over already.

Pine River Area's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Eli Smith led the charge by going 6 of 10 en route to 14 points along with six assists and five boards. Smith has been hot recently, having also posted two or more steals the last three times he's played. Mason Gugle was another key player, going 5 of 10 on his way to 17 points along with five assists and three steals.

Pine River Area smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in 11 consecutive games dating back to last season.

Meanwhile, Manistee was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Friday as they fell 49-44 to Orchard View.

Manistee's loss dropped their record down to 1-4. As for Pine River Area, they pushed their record up to 4-0 with the win, which was their third straight on the road.

Pine River Area came up short against Manistee when the teams last played back in January, falling 44-40. Can Pine River Area avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.