Basketball Game Preview: River Ridge Hawks vs. North Thurston Rams

River Ridge hasn't had much luck against North Thurston recently, but that could start to change on Wednesday. The River Ridge Hawks are taking a road trip to square off against the North Thurston Rams at 7:00 p.m. River Ridge is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 54.3 points per game this season.

River Ridge will head into Friday's contest hoping to keep the good times rolling: they had to skate by with only a three-point margin when they last took the court, which might have inspired the 22-point drubbing they dealt Black Hills on Friday. River Ridge blew past Black Hills 58-36. The Hawks have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four games by 22 points or more this season.

Brandi Stanford continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, going 8 for 20 on her way to 17 points and six steals. Stanford is crushing it when it comes to steals: she's grabbed at least four every time she's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Iris Thomas, who posted 12 points.

River Ridge smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive boards in 11 consecutive matchups.

Meanwhile, North Thurston came tearing into Saturday's contest with seven straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 45 points) and they left with even more momentum. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 43-41 win over the Trojans.

North Thurston pushed their record up to 8-1 with the victory, which was their fifth straight on the road. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 18.6 points per game. As for River Ridge, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 8-3 record this season.

River Ridge was dealt a bruising 87-18 defeat at the hands of North Thurston in their previous matchup back in January of 2024. That match was all but decided by halftime, at which point River Ridge was down 52-3.