Basketball Recap: Carter Smith Leads a Balanced Attack to Beat New Lexington

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Previous Games

02/07/25 - Home	57-40 W
12/13/24 - Away	47-55 L
02/02/24 - Away	34-52 L
12/19/23 - Home	26-37 L
02/10/23 - Away	44-36 W
+ 5 more games

A well-balanced attack led West Muskingum over New Lexington in every quarter on their way to victory on Friday. The West Muskingum Tornadoes enjoyed a cozy 57-40 win over the New Lexington Panthers. This was a revenge game for the Tornadoes: when they faced off against the Panthers back in December of 2024, they had to take a 55-47 loss.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead West Muskingum to victory, but perhaps none more so than Carter Smith, who posted ten points in addition to five boards and three steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Jake Anton, who earned 12 points and five assists.

New Lexington's defeat came despite a true team effort with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Bentley Hanson, who had 13 points along with five assists and three steals. Another player making a difference was Eli Stephens, who put up 12 points and five rebounds.

The victory made it two in a row for West Muskingum and bumps their season record up to 12-8. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to three-point shooting accuracy: their three-point shooting accuracy was 41% in those games and 27.2% outside of them. As for New Lexington, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost five of their last six games, which put a noticeable dent in their 10-10 record this season.

Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. West Muskingum will host Morgan at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. One thing working in West Muskingum's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last seven matchups. As for New Lexington, they will square off against River View at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (River View has four straight wins, New Lexington has four straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.