Basketball Game Preview: Fairmont Golden Tornadoes vs. West Bladen Knights

Fairmont has gone a perfect 10-0 against West Bladen recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Tuesday. The Fairmont Golden Tornadoes will head out on the road to challenge the West Bladen Knights at 6:00 p.m. Fairmont is coming into the match hot, having won their last 11 games.

On Friday, Fairmont strolled past St. Pauls with points to spare, taking the game 59-40.

Lyric McNair

Steals

02/07/25 vs St. Pauls	3
02/04/25 @ Midway	5
01/31/25 @ Red Springs	3
01/28/25 @ Clinton	6
01/27/25 vs West Bladen	6
+ 5 more games

Fairmont's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Lyric McNair, who went 8 for 16 on her way to 19 points in addition to eight boards and three steals. McNair has been hot for a while, having posted two or more steals the last ten times she's played. Taniya Simms was another key player, putting up eight points along with 21 rebounds and three steals.

Fairmont smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 17 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 12 offensive rebounds in seven consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, West Bladen hadn't done well against Midway recently (they were 0-9 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. West Bladen came out on top in a nail-biter against Midway, sneaking past 51-49.

Fairmont pushed their record up to 19-1 with the victory, which was their ninth straight at home. Those victories came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 25.0 points over those games. As for West Bladen, their win was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-7 and their overall record up to 5-13.

Everything came up roses for Fairmont against West Bladen in their previous matchup two weeks ago, as the team secured a 63-14 victory. In that game, Fairmont amassed a halftime lead of 36-10, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Tuesday.