Basketball Game Preview: Wheeling Central Catholic Maroon Knights vs. James Monroe Mavericks

The Wheeling Central Catholic Maroon Knights will challenge the James Monroe Mavericks at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Wheeling Central Catholic sitting on nine straight victories and James Monroe on six.

Wheeling Central Catholic is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Tuesday. They blew past Philip Barbour 78-48. The Maroon Knights have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 14 matches by 22 points or more this season.

Kaitlyn Blake

Points

03/11/25 vs Philip Barbour	37
03/05/25 vs Tyler	35
02/22/25 vs Robert C. Byrd	26
02/20/25 vs Weir	35
02/14/25 vs Charleston Catholic	24
+ 4 more games

Kaitlyn Blake continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines, dropping a double-double with 37 points and ten rebounds. Her evening made it nine games in a row in which she has scored at least 18 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Addie Payton, who almost dropped a double-double with nine points and 11 assists.

Wheeling Central Catholic was working as a unit and finished the game with 20 assists. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now racked up at least 20 assists in four consecutive contests.

Meanwhile, James Monroe faced Wyoming East in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Tuesday. James Monroe beat Wyoming East by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 50-44.

James Monroe's win came from a few key players Wheeling Central Catholic will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Mya Dunlap, who posted 16 points along with eight boards and three blocks. She has been hot, having also posted two or more steals the last five times she's played. Another player making a difference was Ava Dunlap, who scored 14 points.

James Monroe's win bumped their record up to 21-3. As for Wheeling Central Catholic, their victory bumped their record up to 22-2.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Wheeling Central Catholic has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 34 rebounds per game. However, it's not like James Monroe struggles in that department as they've been averaging 31.6 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other basketball content.