The Purchase Line Red Dragons's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their fifth straight loss. They had to suffer through a rough 69-31 loss at the hands of River Valley. Purchase Line was in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 42-14.
Several Red Dragons players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Anna Layden, who scored six points along with nine rebounds. Bella Cessna was another key contributor, scoring six points along with five rebounds.
Even though they lost, Purchase Line were smashing the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as River Valley only pulled down 27 offensive rebounds.
Ava Persichetti was her usual excellent self, scoring 21 points along with eight rebounds and three steals for River Valley. The game was Persichetti's eighth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Rylee Kitner, who scored ten points along with eight rebounds and five assists.
Purchase Line's defeat was their third straight on the road, which bumped their record down to 2-5. As for River Valley, the win was the fifth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 6-2.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Purchase Line will wrap up 2023 with a road trip to face off against Blacklick Valley at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Hopefully Blacklick Valley focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up ten on Wednesday. River Valley will wrap up 2023 with a road trip to face off against Derry at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday. Derry will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Pennsylvania Rankings (they are ranked 452nd, while River Valley is ranked 119th).
