Concord is 1-9 against Northridge since December of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Concord Minutemen will head out to challenge the Northridge Raiders at 7:45 p.m.
Last Tuesday, Concord came up short against Bremen and fell 43-36. While losing is never fun, the Minutemen can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 232nd, while the Lions are ranked 58th).
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Hayden Casey, who posted ten points in addition to eight boards and three steals. Another player making a difference was Shiloh Smith, who had eight points and six rebounds.
Meanwhile, Northridge had already won seven in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 22.7 points) and they went ahead and made it eight on Tuesday. They blew past the Warriors, posting a 70-26 win. The Raiders have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six contests by 25 points or more this season.
Northridge found their leader in sophomore Lily Scholl, who went 7 of 9 on her way to 19 points along with seven boards and six steals. The dominant performance also gave Scholl a new career-high in blocks (three). Ella Mohamed was another key player, putting up eight points.
Northridge pushed their record up to 9-1 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. As for Concord, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-7.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Concord has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 23.1 boards per game. However, it's not like Northridge struggles in that department as they've been averaging 28.5 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Concord was dealt a bruising 64-22 loss at the hands of Northridge in their previous meeting back in December of 2023. That matchup was all but decided by halftime, at which point Concord was down 39-13.
