Two dominant forwards in Ariana Meriedy and Josslyn Derricott are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Riverdale Baptist Crusaders will be playing at home against the Coolidge Colts at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Last Saturday, Riverdale Baptist blew past TPLS Christian Academy, posting an 87-50 win. Given the Crusaders' advantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked fourth in Maryland, while the Lions are ranked 125th in Virginia), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
| 01/25/25 vs TPLS Christian Academy | 22 |
| 01/18/25 vs Woodgrove | 15 |
| 01/13/25 vs Mt. Zion Prep Academy | 16 |
Riverdale Baptist's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Za'Hria Higginbotham led the charge by going 9 for 18 en route to 22 points in addition to seven boards and three steals. The match was Higginbotham's third in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Makyiah Ward, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and ten rebounds.
Riverdale Baptist was working as a unit and finished the game with 24 assists. That's the most assists they've posted since back in February of 2024.
Meanwhile, Coolidge had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 31 points) and they went ahead and made it three on Wednesday. They blew past the Knights 57-14. The game was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 42-6.
Coolidge pushed their record up to 22-2 with the victory, which was their ninth straight at home. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 16.8 points per game. As for Riverdale Baptist, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 17-6.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
