The Ridgeview Panthers lost against the Matanzas Pirates back in November of 2014, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Saturday. The New Year welcomed Ridgeview with a 79-47 whooping from Matanzas. Ridgeview has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Several Panthers players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Justyn Cappas, who scored 12 points along with six rebounds. Those 12 points set a new season-high mark for him.
Leading Matanzas to victory were Henry Robinson Jr. and Rya'sir Jefferson . Robinson Jr. dropped a double-double on 25 points and 15 rebounds, while Jefferson went 8 for 10 from beyond the arc en route to 30 points and 5 assists. The game was Robinson Jr. 's 13th in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Tariq Shakir, who dropped a double-double on ten points and ten assists.
Ridgeview bumped their record down to 2-11 with that loss, which was their ninth straight on the road dating back to last season. As for Matanzas, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four games, which provided a massive bump to their 5-9 record this season.
Ridgeview and Mandarin will face off at 7:00 p.m. on January 8th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Mandarin knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past eight contests -- so hopefully Ridgeview likes a good challenge. As for Matanzas, they will head out on the road to face off against University at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. University has now lost seven straight, and the team is hunting for their first win since December 11.
