The River Ridge Royal Knights are on the road again on Friday and plays the Wesley Chapel Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on February 9th. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Two teams were on the hunt for playoff glory, but only River Ridge walked away with it. They claimed a resounding 57-22 win over the Buccaneers on the road. River Ridge pushed the score to 55-14 by the end of the third, a deficit Gulf cut but never quite recovered from.
River Ridge's win on Wednesday was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Analis Hernandez, who scored nine points along with four steals. Another player making a difference was Lauren Lee, who scored seven points along with six rebounds and three steals.
River Ridge used a slightly different lineup for their bout with Gulf. And. Lexi Wade made the most of the opportunity, scoring 15 points along with four blocks. A few more games like that and she might be seeing even more time going forward.
Meanwhile, Wesley Chapel waltzed into their match on Wednesday with eight straight wins but they left with nine. They put the hurt on Fivay with a sharp 60-37 win. Given Wesley Chapel's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 141st, while Fivay is ranked 319th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
River Ridge has been performing well recently as they've won 11 of their last 13 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 21-5 record this season. As for Wesley Chapel, their victory bumped their record up to 19-7.
River Ridge was able to grind out a solid win over Wesley Chapel in their previous matchup back in December of 2023, winning 64-52. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Wesley Chapel's Dayla Christopher, who dropped a double-double on 23 points and 12 rebounds. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will River Ridge still be able to contain Christopher? There's only one way to find out.
