Basketball Game Preview: West Bladen Knights vs. Midway Raiders

West Bladen is 1-9 against Midway since February of 2016 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The West Bladen Knights will welcome the Midway Raiders at 6:00 p.m.

West Bladen is headed into the match out to prove that what happened against Clinton on Thursday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. West Bladen was outmatched by Clinton and fell 63-30. While losing is never fun, the Knights can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 471st, while the Dark Horses are ranked 231st).

Despite the loss, West Bladen saw an underclassman step up: freshman Addison Wilcox posted nine points and seven rebounds. Another player making a difference was Natalee Sykes, who put up six points.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Midway, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Thursday. They snuck past Spring Creek with a 22-17 win on Monday. The victory was some much needed relief for the Raiders as it spelled an end to their three-game losing streak.

West Bladen's defeat dropped their record down to 4-9. As for Midway, the win got them back to even at 6-6.

West Bladen couldn't quite finish off Midway in their previous matchup back in February of 2024 and fell 41-39. Can West Bladen avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.