Basketball Game Preview: Ritchie County Rebels vs. Braxton County Eagles

Ritchie County and Braxton County are an even 4-4 against one another since January of 2015, but not for long. The Ritchie County Rebels will face off against the Braxton County Eagles at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. Ritchie County is coming into the contest hot, having won their last five games.

If Braxton County heads into halftime all tied up, they better play a good second half: that's when Ritchie County took over last week. Ritchie County snuck past Parkersburg Catholic with a 66-61 win on Tuesday.

Isaac Hodges

Points

02/18/25 vs Parkersburg Catholic	24
02/14/25 @ South Harrison	32
02/13/25 vs Cameron	27
02/08/25 vs Tyler	18
02/01/25 @ Tyler	20
+ 23 more games

Ritchie County's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Isaac Hodges, who dropped a double-double with 24 points and 11 boards. Hodges is on a roll when it comes to points, as he's now scored 15 or more in each of the last 28 games he's played dating back to last season. Rhett Johnson was another key player, going 7-for-16 en route to 22 points.

Ritchie County was working as a unit and finished the game with 18 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Parkersburg Catholic only eight assists.

Meanwhile, Braxton County lost to Lewis County on the road by a 58-42 margin on Monday.

Ritchie County's record now sits at 12-6. As for Braxton County, their defeat dropped their record down to 13-5.

Ritchie County came up short against Braxton County in their previous meeting back in December of 2024, falling 64-57. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Braxton County's Steve Boggs, who dropped a double-double with 18 points and 18 rebounds. Now that Ritchie County knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.