The Nipmuc Regional Warriors won the last time they faced the Hopedale Blue Raiders, and things went their way on Tuesday too. Nipmuc Regional pulled ahead with a 51-50 photo finish over Hopedale.
Leading Nipmuc Regional to victory were Brayden Kelly and James McKinney. Kelly scored 17 points, while McKinney scored 16 points. McKinney has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last three times he's played. Logan DeMarzo was another key contributor, scoring eight points.
Despite the loss, Hopedale still got an impressive performance from Patrick Madden, who scored 25 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Madden has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Nathan Rutkowski, who scored seven points.
Nipmuc Regional has been performing well recently as they've won six of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 8-3 record this season. As for Hopedale, their loss dropped their record down to 7-6.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Nipmuc Regional will take on Blackstone-Millville at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Blackstone-Millville will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Massachusetts Rankings (they are ranked 231st, while Nipmuc Regional is ranked 98th). As for Hopedale, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Douglas at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Douglas is coming into the game hot, having won their last five games.
