Basketball Recap: West Branch Comes Up Short

West Branch was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their third straight loss. The contest between them and the Philipsburg-Osceola Mountaineers didn't end well, with the West Branch Warriors falling 44-27. Unfortunately, that's the second time they've come up short against the Mountaineers this season, as they also lost their prior matchup 49-29 back in December of 2024.

Maddy Malinich went supernova for Philipsburg-Osceola, going 8 of 20 en route to 21 points and six steals. Malinich has become a key player for Philipsburg-Osceola: the team is 3-1 when she posts at least five steals, but 0-16 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Kaelin Wagner, who posted five points along with five boards and four steals.

West Branch's defeat dropped their record down to 1-18. As for Philipsburg-Osceola, their victory ended a four-game drought on the road and puts them at 3-17.

Coming up, West Branch will venture away from home to take on Penns Manor at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. As for Philipsburg-Osceola, they have already played their next match, a 56-14 loss against Bellwood-Antis on the 8th.