Having just played yesterday, the South Gallia Rebels will head out on the road to face off against the River Valley Raiders at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this contest.
On Friday, South Gallia ended up a good deal behind Oak Hill and lost 54-36. While losing is never fun, the Rebels can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 698th, while the Oaks are ranked 343rd).
Meanwhile, River Valley was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their 11th straight defeat. They were four points away from ending the streak, but they lost a 57-53 heartbreaker at the hands of Alexander. While the Raiders didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Spartans 14-9 in the first quarter.
South Gallia will have to keep a close watch on Braden Bennett and Landon Burns, a pair of players who had a big impact on River Valley's prior game. Bennett went 7 for 17 en route to 16 points in addition to eight boards and seven steals, while Burns went 7 of 13 on his way to 16 points and seven rebounds. With that strong performance, Bennett is now averaging an impressive 2.1 steals per game. Another player making a difference was Gary Truance, who posted seven points and six boards.
River Valley's loss dropped their record down to 1-12. As for South Gallia, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-8.
South Gallia was able to grind out a solid victory over River Valley in their previous meeting back in December of 2023, winning 53-42. The rematch might be a little tougher for South Gallia since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps