Preview: West Carteret Patriots vs. Richlands Wildcats
West Carteret is 8-2 against Richlands since December of 2015, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Monday. The West Carteret Patriots will be staying on the road to face off against the Richlands Wildcats at 6:30 p.m. on January 22nd. West Carteret has insisted on making their lastthree contests complete nail-biters, turning in a record of 2-1 during that stretch of close contests.
Winning is just a little bit easier when you outrebound your opponent 22 to 14 on the offensive boards, a fact West Carteret proved on Friday. They escaped with a win against Swansboro by the margin of a single free throw, 38-37.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead West Carteret to victory, but perhaps none more so than Ella Holmes, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and ten rebounds. Holmes has been hot recently, having posted eight or more rebounds the last five times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Skyler Setzer, who scored 11 points along with seven steals and five rebounds.
Meanwhile, Richlands beat Swansboro 44-32 last Friday. The win was just what Richlands needed coming off of a 55-26 loss in their prior match.
Richlands' success was spearheaded by the efforts of Jordyn Fisher, who scored 11 points along with six rebounds and four steals, and Mia Wells, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 18 rebounds. That's the first time this season that Wells scored 15 or more points. Lenayah Jackson was another key contributor, scoring five points along with eight rebounds.
West Carteret now has a winning record of 7-6. As for Richlands, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 8-5 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: West Carteret have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 36.9 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Richlands, though, as they've been averaging only 37.2 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
West Carteret took their win against Richlands when the teams last played back in February of 2023 by a conclusive 48-28. Does West Carteret have another victory up their sleeve, or will Richlands turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
