Basketball Game Preview: West Branch Warriors vs. Bishop McCort Crushers

The West Branch Warriors will face off against the Bishop McCort Crushers at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. West Branch is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 67.3 points per game this season.

West Branch heads in on the heels of a playoff game on Saturday. They took a 53-45 hit to the loss column at the hands of Northern Cambria.

Owen Koleno

Points

02/22/25 vs Northern Cambria	16
02/18/25 vs Penns Manor	32
02/14/25 vs North Star	15
02/08/25 vs Brookville	19
02/04/25 vs Glendale	18
+ 5 more games

Loss or not, West Branch got some senior leadership from Joel Evans and Owen Koleno. Evans dropped a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards, while Koleno posted 16 points and seven rebounds. The match was Koleno's tenth in a row with at least 15 points. Easton Emigh was another key player, putting up four points and six boards.

Even though they lost, West Branch was working as a unit and finished the game with ten assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in three consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, Bishop McCort was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Saturday as they fell 66-62 to Portage. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Tuesday (59), the Crushers still had to take the loss.

Bishop McCort has also been struggling recently as they've lost seven of their last nine games. That's put a noticeable dent in their 12-12 record this season. West Branch's defeat dropped their record down to 20-5.

West Branch didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Bishop McCort in their previous meeting back in February of 2019, but they still walked away with a 57-51 victory. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Bishop McCort's Ben Seidel, who en route to 22 points along with eight rebounds and five steals. Now that he won't be playing on Wednesday, will it be easier for West Branch to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.