Basketball Game Preview: Martins Ferry Purple Riders vs. Wheeling Central Catholic Maroon Knights

The Martins Ferry Purple Riders will square off against the Wheeling Central Catholic Maroon Knights at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Martins Ferry is coming into the match hot, having won their last four games.

On Thursday, Martins Ferry was fully in charge, breezing past Cambridge 63-18. The Purple Riders have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight contests by 20 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, Wheeling Central Catholic posted their closest win since December 14, 2024 on Wednesday. They skirted past Williamstown 54-51. The 54-point effort marked the Maroon Knights' lowest-scoring game of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.

Martins Ferry has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won ten of their last 11 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 13-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 61.8 points per game. As for Wheeling Central Catholic, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 13-1.

Martins Ferry came up short against Wheeling Central Catholic when the teams last played back in December of 2024, falling 78-67. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Wheeling Central Catholic's Kaitlyn Blake, who dropped a double-double on 20 points and 16 boards. Now that Martins Ferry knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.