Basketball Game Preview: Fairmont Senior Polar Bears vs. Philip Barbour Colts

The Fairmont Senior Polar Bears will challenge the Philip Barbour Colts at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Fairmont Senior has struggled recently with three losses in a row, while Philip Barbour will arrive with four straight wins.

It's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 68-41, which was the final score in Fairmont Senior's tilt against East Fairmont on Monday. While losing is never fun, the Polar Bears can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' West Virginia basketball rankings (they are ranked 80th, while the Bees are ranked 14th).

Meanwhile, Philip Barbour strolled past Moorefield with points to spare on Monday, taking the game 54-35.

Philip Barbour found their leader in sophomore Izzy Knotts, who dropped a double-double on 25 points and 11 boards. Knotts is also on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed three or more in the last six games she's played. Taitem Jeffries was another key player, going 5 of 11 on her way to 12 points in addition to seven steals and three blocks.

Philip Barbour has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven games, which provided a nice bump to their 7-6 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 52.4 points per game. As for Fairmont Senior, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-11.

Fairmont Senior was taken down by Philip Barbour 88-30 when the teams last played back in January of 2024. Can Fairmont Senior avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.