BIDWELL, Ohio (WOUB) — On their trip to Bidwell, the Federal Hocking Lancers fell to the River Valley Raiders 75 to 62. Federal Hocking, coming off a home win over TVC-Ohio opponent Alexander was confident when traveling to the Spartans’ conference rival’s gym, but the offensive fire power of the Raiders was too much for the Lancers in the cross-divisional contest.

River Valley, behind their home crowd, shot out of a cannon on both sides of the ball. Moving the ball with precision, dominating the glass, and forcing turnovers early allowed the Raiders to get out to a 10-0 run to start the game.

Brandon Bennett and Landan Burns caused the Lancers problems, giving the Raiders all of their 21 points in the first quarter. Brandon Bennett made physical bucket after physical bucket making multiple trips to the free throw line and Landan Burns lit up the score sheet from behind the arc.

Benett and Burns had 21 and 19 points, respectively.

“We made some adjustments between the first and second quarters and made some more at halftime,” Coach Josh Vernon said about slowing down River Valley’s main playmakers. “I think we were still able to take (Bennett) out of the game but he’s still a handful.”

This big first quarter explosion carried through the next two as Federal Hocking played catch up for the rest of the game. The Lancers did mount a valiant comeback attempt in the fourth quarter, however. After failing to stop the firepower of River Valley and not converting many of their three-point attempts, Federal Hocking started to do so with greater success as time winded down.

The Lancers cut the lead down to just six points, but the Raiders were able to close out the deal and take the home victory.

Cameron Joy, Mosiah Cottrill, and Gabe Bray all had double digits for the Lancers with 18, 14, and 14 points respectively, but it’s not enough against a daunted Raiders team.

After a big home win, River Valley is looking forward to the start of TVC-Ohio play against Wellston on Monday.

After falling to 1-2, the Lancers will look to bounce back against Nelsonville-York on the road on Sunday.