Basketball Recap: Mineral Ridge Takes a Loss

If Mineral Ridge was feeling good fresh off their 56-29 takedown of Champion last Friday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The Mineral Ridge Rams opened the new year with a less-than-successful 59-51 defeat to the Memorial Red Devils. The Rams were given a dose of their own medicine in this game as the Red Devils apparently hadn't forgotten their loss the last time these teams played back in February of 2019.

When it comes to explaining why Mineral Ridge lost on Monday, don't look at Chase Moore. Despite the final result, he dropped a double-double on 20 points and 15 boards. Another player making a difference was Landon Bingham, who posted 11 points in addition to five rebounds and three steals.

Rams

Assists

01/06/25 vs Memorial	15
12/27/24 @ Champion	9
12/21/24 vs Lordstown	9
12/19/24 vs Waterloo	4

Even though they lost, Mineral Ridge was working as a unit and finished the game with 15 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.

Josue Rodriguez continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines for Memorial, going 9 of 17 on his way to 28 points. Rodriguez is also on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last eight games he's played. Another player making a difference was Teyon Harris Jr., who put up eight points and five blocks.

Mineral Ridge's defeat dropped their record down to 5-3. As for Memorial, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 9-2.

Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Mineral Ridge will challenge Western Reserve at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Western Reserve knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past three games -- so hopefully Mineral Ridge likes a good challenge. As for Memorial, they will face off against McDonald at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Memorial is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 70.1 points per game this season.