Basketball Game Preview: WestSide Renegades vs. Midland Trail Patriots

The WestSide Renegades will face off against the Midland Trail Patriots at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. One thing working in WestSide's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last five matches.

WestSide is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They put the hurt on Mingo Central with a sharp 80-55 victory. The win continues a trend for the Renegades in their matchups with the Miners: they've now won five in a row.

Coltin Lester

Steals (Career)

03/07/25 vs Mingo Central	4
02/25/25 vs Mingo Central	3
02/21/25 vs Chapmanville Regional	3
01/23/24 @ Mingo Central	3
01/02/24 vs Shady Spring	3

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead WestSide to victory, but perhaps none more so than Coltin Lester, who went 6-for-14 en route to 13 points in addition to eight boards and four steals. Those four steals gave Lester a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Austin Bishop, who shot 55% from the field to rack up 18 points.

Meanwhile, Midland Trail posted their closest victory since January 23, 2024 on Friday. They skirted past Liberty 49-47. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Patriots.

Midland Trail's win came from a few key players WestSide will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Thad Brown, who posted 16 points and eight rebounds. Camryn Thomas was another key player, putting up ten points.

Midland Trail's win bumped their record up to 13-10. As for WestSide, their victory bumped their record up to 15-5.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: WestSide has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 31 boards per game. However, it's not like Midland Trail struggles in that department as they've been averaging 25.4 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.

WestSide strolled past Midland Trail in their previous meeting back in February of 2022 by a score of 80-61. The rematch might be a little tougher for WestSide since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.