(New Buffalo, MI) - The New Buffalo High School boys’ basketball team cruised to victory in what was the last regular season match-up ever with arch rival River Valley High School in any sport.
The Bison defeated the Mustangs 65-20 at home on January 24. All of the sports teams from both schools, except for boys’ basketball, have already merged to form the Red Arrow Raiders due to gradual but longstanding enrollment declines. The boys’ basketball programs from both schools will be combined after the current season.
“I think it’s sad. I, obviously, wish we were not in this position,” said New Buffalo Head Coach Nate Tripp. Tripp has guided the team to multiple district titles and an appearance in the regional finals since taking over as head coach in 2018. No decision has been made yet on who will be the head coach of the Raiders in boys’ basketball next season.
“That may not be me. I haven’t even thought about it. I’m still focused on this season,” he said. The Bison (7-6) jumped out to a 6-0 lead on buckets from seniors Nick Haskins, Trevor James and Lucas Forker. The Mustangs (1-11) quickly narrowed the lead to one point on buckets from sophomore Bowie Strieter, who scored all but three of River Valley’s 14 first half points.
The offense for the Bison seemed to really take off after Haskins converted a long pass from senior Sam Tripp into a driving lay-up. Three point buckets from Haskins and James gave the Bison a 14 point lead just before the end of the first quarter. Haskins and Tripp driving in for lay-ups early in the second quarter seemed to ignite another scoring spurt for the Bison, who went into halftime with a 30 point lead.
Forker led the Bison with 16 points followed by Tripp with 15 points. James and Haskins finished with 11 points apiece. The Bison defeated the Mustangs at River Valley on December 5 by exactly the same score.
Tripp said chances are the merger will result in higher quality players on teams that will have to move up a division and face better competition because of their combined enrollments. “It’s definitely a give and take,” he said.
