Basketball Game Preview: Tygarts Valley Bulldogs vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Two dominant forwards in Summer Lewis-Smith and Selena Wilson are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Tygarts Valley Bulldogs will take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

Tygarts Valley is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They fell to Pocahontas County 67-61. The loss continues a trend for the Bulldogs in their matchups with the Warriors : they've now lost five in a row.

While Notre Dame didn't have the best season last year (they finished 6-16), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They secured a 39-34 W over South Harrison two weeks ago. The 39-point effort marked the Fighting Irish's lowest-scoring contest of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.

Notre Dame's win came from a few key players Tygarts Valley will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Wilson, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 13 rebounds. The matchup was her fifth in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Isabella Garnek, who went 5 of 12 en route to 10 points along with five boards and four steals.

Notre Dame smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive rebounds in ten consecutive games dating back to last season.

Notre Dame's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 6-1. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 26.7 points per game. As for Tygarts Valley, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-3.

Tygarts Valley strolled past Notre Dame in their previous meeting back in February of 2024 by a score of 54-39. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Wilson, who dropped a double-double on 33 points and 17 rebounds. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Tygarts Valley still be able to contain Wilson? There's only one way to find out.