Pine River-Backus has enjoyed the comforts of home their last four games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will take on the Red Lake Warriors at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Pine River-Backus will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Minnesota Rankings (they are ranked 340th, while Red Lake is ranked 115th).
Pine River-Backus' 18-8 record from last season is now well into the rear view mirror after another tough outing. They received a tough blow on Thursday as they fell 53-36 to Walker-Hackensack-Akeley.
Meanwhile, Red Lake entered their tilt with Blackduck with four consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with five. Red Lake simply couldn't be stopped on Thursday as they easily beat Blackduck 100-58 on the road. Red Lake has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight matches by 28 points or more this season.
Gerald Kingbird jr was his usual excellent self, scoring 37 points along with five assists and four steals. He continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Tyrone Beaulieu Jr, who scored 18 points along with eight rebounds and seven steals.
Pine River-Backus' loss was their third straight at home, which bumped their record down to 3-9. As for Red Lake, they are on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 11-3 record this season.
Pine River-Backus strolled past Red Lake in their previous meeting back in February of 2023 by a score of 68-50. Does Pine River-Backus have another victory up their sleeve, or will Red Lake turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
