Basketball Game Preview: Croatan Cougars vs. West Carteret Patriots

Croatan hasn't had much luck against West Carteret recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Croatan Cougars will head out on the road to square off against the West Carteret Patriots at 5:30 p.m. One thing working in Croatan's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last 15 contests.

Croatan is headed into the matchup after thoroughly thrashing Richlands: they outscored them in every quarter. Croatan blew past Richlands 82-58 on Tuesday. Given the Cougars' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 143rd, while the Wildcats are ranked 447th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Kannon McBride

Points

02/11/25 vs Richlands	26
02/07/25 @ White Oak	16
02/05/25 vs Dixon	22

Croatan got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Kannon McBride out in front who went 10 of 21 on his way to 26 points along with six boards and four steals. The game was McBride's third in a row with at least 16 points. Trey Jones was another key player, dropping a double-double with 24 points and ten rebounds.

Croatan smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in five consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, West Carteret played a tough match on Tuesday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They lost 64-44 to Swansboro. The Patriots haven't had much luck with the Pirates recently, as the team's come up short the last five times they've met.

Croatan has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 15-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 78.8 points over those games. As for West Carteret, their loss dropped their record down to 11-7.

Everything came up roses for Croatan against West Carteret in their previous matchup back in February of 2024, as the team secured an 89-58 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Croatan since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.