Raiders basketball team on a roll

The Rice Raiders are off to a great start in their season with an 11-5 record overall and a 2-0 record in district.

The Raiders picked up their first district win over Industrial 59-51 on Dec. 17 and their second on Dec. 20 against Yoakum with a score of 57-45.

The Raiders have a chip on their shoulder after last season. They felt as though they were one of, if not, the best teams in the state, and their playoff run got cut short.

This season, they are more experienced, and just as dynamic as they were last year. They only lost one senior to graduation, with most, if not all starters, returning to the team. To prepare for a deeper playoff run the Raiders scheduled some tough competition at the start of the year.

Hence the five losses, they are playing against some larger schools and punching a little bit above their weight class.

That’s by design though, because they lost only one senior last year but this year over half the team are seniors. They are hungry to make a deep push in the playoffs and they know they are talented enough to do it.

They have a chip on their shoulder to get it done and all signs so far this season are pointing to them making a deep push in the playoffs.

Let’s look at the numbers while they faced some hard losses so far this season the Raiders were within a handful of points in all of those games. They are averaging 61 points a game on offense which is very impressive but even more impressive is that they are only giving up 52 points a game.

Almost a 10-point differential, which only solidifies that the Raiders are currently on a roll and have no plans of slowing down heading into 2025.

The Raiders will be back in action on Friday, Jan. 3, when they travel to take on the Edna Cowboys for a district game.