Basketball Game Preview: PikeView Panthers vs. Midland Trail Patriots

The PikeView Panthers will face off against the Midland Trail Patriots at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.

It was a proper cat-fight when PikeView duked it out withShady Spring on Tuesday. PikeView fell just short of Shady Spring by a score of 52-49.

Meanwhile, Midland Trail entered their contest against Greater Beckley Christian on Monday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. Midland Trail came up short against Greater Beckley Christian, falling 81-57.

PikeView will have to contain Payton Bailes as he made an impact in Midland Trail's last game. He went 9 for 18 on his way to 30 points. Brody Jones was another key player, going 5 of 6 en route to 11 points.

PikeView's loss was their first in the region, dropping their region record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 6-5. As for Midland Trail, their defeat ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 8-6.

PikeView couldn't quite finish off Midland Trail when the teams last played back in December of 2024 and fell 68-65. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Bailes, who went 7 for 12 on his way to 25 points and six rebounds. Now that PikeView knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.