Raiders face top 10 team

Raiders face top 10 team

The Raiders face their first big challenge of the season Friday. After beating Link Year Prep by 31 and Wabash Valley by 18 last weekend to open the season, Three Rivers will take on sixth-ranked Indian Hills (Iowa) at 6 p.m. Friday, followed by Southeastern (Iowa) in the Missouri/Iowa Challenge at State Fair Community College. Tyon Grant-Foster is likely to be the focal point of the Indian Hills offense. The 6-foot-7, 185-pound sophomore committed to Kansas in October and is currently averaging 25 points on 51 percent shooting. He’s also making 42 percent of his 3-pointers to go with 6.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks through two games. He is Indian Hills’ only player scoring in double figures, though Chris Childs, Drake Jeffries, Tyrese Nickelson and Malique Jacobs are all a basket shy of averaging 10 points. Last season, Grant-Foster averaged 8.2 points and 4.2 rebounds as the Indians finished 27-7 and lost to Florida Southwestern in the second round of the national tournament. Three Rivers last faced Indian Hills in 2014 at the Bess Activity Center. Then ranked first in the country, Indian Hills held on for a 109-104 win, but later had to forfeit the game. Jared White led the Raiders in that game with 28 points after going 16 for 19 on free throws. Three Rivers does have some experience this season against a ranked opponent. The Raiders lost to defending national champion and top-ranked Vincennes by one point in the preseason.

Three Rivers will also face currently ranked opponents on Nov. 30 against 24th ranked Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, and Region XVI rival Moberly Area is ranked ninth. Like Indian Hills, Southeastern also opened its season with a pair of wins, beating Rock Valley 78-54 and Kirkwood 74-69, and present a more balanced attack than Indians hills. Miganeh Abdi and Carlos Lemus Jr. are both averaging 14 points through two games. Boubacar Kamissoko is scoring 3.5 points and Elias Ezenekwe is scoring 10, with 10 two more players just shy of double figures. While Lemus Jr., Kamissoko and Ezenekwe are starters, Abdi came off the bench against Rock Valley and went 6 for 13 on 3-pointers for 21 points to lead the team in scoring for the game. Freshman guard Brahm Harris is currently leading the Raiders with 14.5 points per game and Jay Hines is averaging 12.5 with another six Raiders averaging more than 5 points through two games, including Poplar Bluff alums Dominique Hardimon and Willie Lucas.

 

Scott Borkgren - Daily American Republic