Basketball Game Preview: Croatan Cougars vs. West Carteret Patriots

Croatan and West Carteret are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2019, but not for long. The Croatan Cougars will host the West Carteret Patriots at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Croatan has 11 straight victories, West Carteret has five straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Last Friday, Croatan beat West Carteret 51-42. Given the Cougars' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 113th, while the Patriots are ranked 274th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Leah Johnson

Blocked Shots

02/21/25 vs West Carteret	2
02/18/25 @ Richlands	4
02/13/25 @ West Carteret	4
02/11/25 vs Richlands	2
02/07/25 @ White Oak	3

Croatan found their leader in freshman Leah Johnson, who to rack up 18 points and seven boards. Johnson is also on a roll when it comes to blocks, as she's now posted two or more in each of the last five games she's played. Another player making a difference was Neely McMannen, who on her way to 15 points.

Croatan pushed their record up to 17-1 with the win, which was their ninth straight at home. Those victories came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 29.1 points over those games. As for West Carteret, their loss dropped their record down to 13-10.