Preview: West Carteret Patriots vs. Pamlico County Hurricanes
The West Carteret Patriots will look to defend their home court on Wednesday against the Pamlico County Hurricanes at 6:00 p.m. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
West Carteret struggled with assists on Monday (Southwest Onslow had ten more) and sadly the final score reflected it. West Carteret took a hard 57-38 fall against Southwest Onslow. While losing is never fun, West Carteret can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 166th, while Southwest Onslow is ranked 40th).
West Carteret's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Ella Holmes, who scored 18 points along with five steals, and Skyler Setzer who scored 13 points along with five rebounds. That's the first time this season that Holmes scored 15 or more points.
Meanwhile, Pamlico County came up short against Havelock on Friday and fell 45-38.
Despite the loss, Pamlico County saw an underclassman step up: Madison Anderson scored 11 points along with eight rebounds. That's the first time this season that Anderson pulled down eight or more rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Dania Galvan-Veliz, who scored five points along with six rebounds.
West Carteret's loss ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 5-3. As for Pamlico County, their loss dropped their record down to 1-4.
Wednesday's match is shaping up to be a scrappy contest: West Carteret have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 38.6 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Pamlico County, though, as they've been averaging only 30.6 rebounds per game. Given West Carteret's sizeable advantage in that area, Pamlico County will need to find a way to close that gap.
West Carteret was able to grind out a solid win over Pamlico County in their previous matchup back in November, winning 55-44. Does West Carteret have another victory up their sleeve, or will Pamlico County turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
